


Snow White and Rose Red

by MysticaSmith



Category: Maleficent (2014), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Sleeping Beauty - All Media Types, Snow White - All Media Types, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Genre: Angels, Baba Yaga - Freeform, Cinderella Elements, Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, F/F, Gen, Hobbits, Magic Mirrors, Middle Earth, Other, Shrek - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 15:52:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 54
Words: 252,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3698084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticaSmith/pseuds/MysticaSmith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Our story begins when Phillip introduces Aurora and Maleficent to his parents, and his mother Snow White recognizes Maleficent as her long-lost half-sister, Rose Red, who vanished as a small child. Maleficent rediscovers the Queen’s magic mirror and secret room, swearing to avenge her mother’s death by killing the Seven Dwarves. Events take a tragic, unexpected turn and Maleficent and Aurora find themselves servants of the Baba Yaga for seven years. The relationship between Maleficent and Aurora grows and matures, as Aurora discovers her true love, her calling, acquires wings, and Maleficent gets a human soul. They plan their own happily ever after but sadly, humans don’t live as long as fairies.<br/>Warnings: A Mature rating for material that may be disturbing to some readers, including non-con, incest, death, abuse and infanticide.<br/>Blessings: Pranic Birth, lots of lesbian lovemaking, including a lifelong affair between Maleficent and Aurora.<br/>Mostly canon-compliant, to Snow White, Maleficent, and the original Sleeping Beauty; with an intergenerational cast. Minor past scenes have been altered. Some locations and names are borrowed from Tolkien. Alignments and spells are from Dungeons & Dragons</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Prologue  
Down the Rabbit Hole

Snow White didn’t like to play in the castle when her father was away. Her stepmother’s gaze followed her disapprovingly, and made her feel like a deer in a meadow, watched by a wolf. She preferred to play out in the gardens, and especially to visit Granny Goodwitch, the dairy woman who lived behind the castle near the pastures. Granny was nice, and gave Snow White little treats like cookies, honey cakes, hot buttery muffins, and especially cheese. Snow White loved cheese. She was glad winter was over, and the ice and snow had melted away, making it more pleasant to be outside. To her surprise, whom should she meet out in the gardens first thing in the morning but the Wicked Queen! She looked wild and disheveled, her green eyes glowing like she had been screaming at the moon with demons all night. The woman glared at Snow White as she passed by, and Snow White said, “Good Morning, Stepmother,” only to receive an angry look and a vicious kick. Snow White scurried away from her, and hid behind a tree until she was quite sure the Wicked Queen was gone. Following the trail beneath the apple trees, blooming with light, pinkish-white flowers, passing the peaceful cow pastures, she paused near the kitchen gardens to watch a fluffy little rabbit. It was all white except for its black feet, long ears, and enormous dark eyes. “Oh, aren’t you cute!” Snow White exclaimed, and followed the white rabbit to a rubbish heap. “Oh, don’t eat anything over there, little bunny!” she called to it. The rabbit however, paused by a pile of dirty rags under some branches, wet from the morning dew, and hopped on top of it. Snow White couldn’t resist wanting to pet that adorable little bunny, so she reached for it. All animals loved Snow White, and they would sing and dance with her. But the white rabbit just winked and ran, disappearing down a hole. As it jumped off and away, the rags slipped, and Snow White saw something she didn’t expect; a tiny hand. Gasping in shock, she pulled on the pile of rags, which proved to be only a little baby blanket, very dirty from lying on the wet ground, and discovered a small, pale fairy baby inside, lying very still. “Oh, my goodness!” Snow White exclaimed, feeling a mixture of pity and shock. Who would have thrown a baby on a trash heap? “Oh, you poor little thing!” Snow White exclaimed. Quickly wrapping the baby in her own cloak, she ran down the trail to the little cottage behind the dairy where Granny Goodwitch lived. “Granny Goodwitch!” Snow White cried, pounding on her door.  
The kind dairy woman opened the door. “Snow White! What is it?” Snow White handed her the baby, and Granny looked almost surprised. “My goodness, child, where did you find this?”  
“Someone threw a baby in the rubbish heap,” was the answer. “I hope she doesn’t die! Granny, can you save her?”  
“I can try,” the witch said, taking the baby and checking for signs of life. She felt the baby’s pulse and realized that she was still alive, but just barely. “I think you brought her here just in time,” she said. Snow White followed her around as she gave the baby a magic potion and warmed her beside the fire, rubbing her little arms and legs.  
“What’s the magic potion, Granny?” Snow White asked curiously, sniffing the decanter.  
“Straight whiskey,” Granny answered with a laugh, taking some of the potion herself. Snow White wasn’t sure what to think, but the baby’s arms flailed a little, and she opened her eyes. They were intense and green with gold flecks, sparkling just like Snow White’s nose felt after sniffing Granny’s magic potion.  
The baby cried, and Snow White said, “Granny, I think she would rather have milk than any more magic potion.” Granny laughed, and told Snow White to go get some, while she cleaned the baby up. When Snow White returned, the little fairy baby was lying comfortably in Granny’s arms, looking around quietly with glittery, glowing emerald-like eyes. Snow White noticed that the baby had adorable, downy little brown wings folded up tightly against her back, and tiny dark nubs on the top of her head, surrounded by thick, raven-black hair. No longer clammy, pale, and deathly-looking, her skin was still snowy white, but living. She also had lovely, ruby lips, red as a rose, which made Snow White exclaim, “I know what we should name her! With lips red as the summer rose, and eyes like bright spring leaves of green; we will call her Rose Red! And she can be my little sister! Why, I’ve always wanted a little sister, and we’re going to be best friends! Oh, this will be such fun to keep and raise her!” Snow White clapped her hands together in delight, and both Granny Goodwitch and the fairy baby looked surprised.  
Granny looked a little skeptical, but then chuckled. “Yes, we will name our fairy baby Rose Red, but for now she must remain a secret. No one must know of the baby until your father returns, especially the Queen.” Snow White quickly agreed. The new Queen was very beautiful, but extremely vain and mean, and slapped servant girls, as well as Snow White. There was no telling what she might do to a fairy baby.

Chapter 1  
Phillip & Aurora

“It is not that I do not enjoy the Moors,” Prince Phillip said, “It is delightful, and contains wonder after wonder, it is only that I never told my parents that I was intending to remain here. They must still think I was on my way to talk to King Stephan, and that I never returned. Rumors undoubtedly have, however, about battles and dragons. They must be very worried about what must have become of me. I’ve been gone ever so long, and I really must tell them where I have been.”  
Aurora agreed, “Yes, I understand. They must be very worried about you. Time does pass differently in the fairy realm! Do you wish that I should accompany you?”  
“I would be honored if you were to accompany me. Since we are together, and contemplating marriage and all, it does seem as though it is time to introduce you to my parents,” Phillip smiled. “They will be delighted to meet you, especially my mother! She’s already after me about finding that perfect princess.” Indeed, time did pass differently in the fairy realm. He had been sixteen when he arrived, but now he was eighteen.   
“Wonderful!” Aurora exclaimed. “I will tell Maleficent and we can leave right away!”  
He looked uncomfortable for a moment, and then said, “Aurora, could it be just the two of us?”  
“Why?” she asked. “Shouldn’t both sides of the family meet each other?”  
“Absolutely,” he agreed, “Of course they should, eventually. But it need not be the very first thing. Because I think we need some time together alone, without anyone else around,” he said. “Without any friends or relatives,” he added. “Before we arrive at a large castle with lots of loud, noisy people who might not like fairies very much, until after they have met you.”  
Aurora looked concerned, “Don’t you like her?”  
“Oh, she’s delightful, and I like her very much, and I’m very grateful for her help. I simply want to be with you alone.” Though I do not feel as though she is overly fond of me, Phillip thought but didn’t add. Rather, she is insanely jealous about the time we spend together, and watches me constantly. It would certainly be a relief to go home for a little while and not have that.  
“Well, then, that is what we shall do,” she decided. “I shall certainly tell her that we are leaving, however.”  
“Of course,” he answered, thinking that Aurora’s fairy godmother would probably be accompanying them after all, against his better judgment. He had heard the old whispered stories, seen the paintings, and could foresee disaster, especially at White Castle, the scene of so much earlier devilry. It would be far preferable for them to meet at a different place. It would be much better even, for his parents to travel here to meet Maleficent. Just his parents, he thought, and maybe a few trusted servants, but no one else, at least not at first. “It is nothing against her, it is simply that there will be enough excitement and tumult introducing you to my family. One step at a time, dear, there is no rush. We should surely bring her on our next visit. Or better yet, we can invite my parents over to the Moors to meet Maleficent. I’m sure they would be quite delighted.”  
So Aurora went to tell Maleficent that she and Phillip were going on a visit to his parents. “He simply wants it to be just the two of us,” Aurora emphasized.  
“Does he now?” Maleficent answered dryly.   
“You shall come with us on our next trip,” Aurora said cheerfully. “There is no need to be upset.”  
“Of course,” Maleficent agreed, with a forced smile. To her way of looking at things, wandering alone in the woods with men was how disaster struck. They needed supervision, whether Aurora thought so or not. She loved the beautiful young lady, and was not about to allow anything unpleasant to befall her.   
Maleficent thought back to her own innocent years. For her sixteenth birthday, Stephan had given her the kiss of true love, and then said he another special present for her, but that she had to lay down on the ground, close her eyes, and spread her legs to find out what it was. She laughed now at the naiveté of a girl who would fall for that, or indeed think or believe any of the sweet nothings she had accepted as truth at the time, but she had, curiosity eventually getting the better of her. The special present turned out to not be very special from her point of view, more like having a sharp stick poked up there. He had certainly liked it, though, and while he called it true love, she received her first blind introduction to the darker parts of the hearts of men, lies, and lust. When she told him that she didn’t like that special present very much, and wanted something else, he had told her that they needed to practice, and that it would feel better the more she did it. She asked him where he had learned about that.  
“There’s a barn outside of town where you pay five copper pieces to the man at the door, then you go in and pick a girl and a haystack,” he confided.  
That had fascinated her, “Where is this magic barn? Can I go pick a girl and a haystack? I want to kiss a beautiful girl with long golden hair and she can be special friends with me!” she had asked excitedly. That had sounded much more fun and interesting than being poked with someone else’s stick! She had been lonely, too. Stephan visited her sometimes, but when he was not there, she had only the other fairies for companionship, and they were all quite different from her. Most of them were very simple creatures, with not a lot to say for themselves, and she suspected that some of them, especially the three pixie sisters, didn’t like her very much.  
He looked at her skeptically, “Do you have five copper pieces?”  
“No.”  
“Then we’ll just have to stay here and practice,” he told her. So they hadn’t gone to the magic barn that she was so curious about, but he told her that someday they would, when he had ten copper pieces so they could both get in. She had also continued to acquiesce to his demands, although it seemed like a lot of rubbing for a little bit of warmth, but she had thought that meant that they were bonded together. After all, he said that he loved her, and true love was forever, because birds mated for life. True, he was just a flightless human, but they loved each other, and that was what was important. One day he got lazy, and propped her up on top of him, and she discovered something amazing; it felt a lot better when she was able to control what was happening, and to be able to spread and flap her wings, instead of being squished. She enjoyed it when the energy could rush up and fly out in powerful, fluttering, flapping bursts. He thought that was strange, but then again, he thought lots of things about her were strange.   
Not long after that, as the powerful rush of pleasure had subsided and she could feel a deep connection to the spirit world, she knew the time was right for a very special spell. So she spread her wings and arms, and called the spirits to enter her through her heart and into her womb. “I wish for a child, a daughter with lips red as the rose, skin white as snow, and raven hair…”  
“What the…” he exclaimed, throwing her off and disrupting her magic, midway through the beautiful spell. “What are you doing?”  
She picked herself up out of the dirt, annoyed at his stupidity and rudeness. He had just ruined an exquisite, very delicate spell and angered the spirits. “I want a baby. A beautiful daughter who looks just like me…”  
“Oh, hell no!” he answered, standing up and pulling his breeches up.  
“Why not?” she demanded indignantly, smoothing her dress back down, and feeling like she shouldn’t have told him anything at all. “We’re mated together, aren’t we? I’m old enough, and I want a beautiful little winged baby…”  
“Maybe someday,” he said vaguely. “I have to go.”   
She hoped the magic had worked, but it hadn’t. He had certainly ruined that spell, and she hadn’t seen him again for another five years, and that was when he had returned with more lies. He hadn’t given her a baby or a trip to the magic barn, so she never should have trusted him again, but she did. Perhaps it had just been loneliness; she hadn’t had much for friends at the time except for the other fairies and a red haired she-devil. Then she had woken up betrayed again, more horribly than she could ever have imagined beforehand. She was not about to let any such experiences happen to her beloved Aurora. Although the princess didn’t seem quite as naïve as Maleficent herself had been at that age, and probably wouldn’t fall for stories about special presents and magic barns. Indeed, the fairy had been stunned to see the princess trying to interest Phillip in special presents and adventures that the prince had to be talked into. Or maybe, Maleficent thought, he just didn’t want any fairy godmothers around, and her presence made him nervous. All the more reason to supervise, she concluded.  
Packing for the journey was quick and easy. Phillip took only what he had brought, and a stout little pony was sufficient for carrying what little Aurora felt like bringing. Walking in the woods together and leading both, Phillip told Aurora about his parents, King John and Queen Snow White. “My mother is sweet and simple,” he confessed, “She likes to dance, sing, and paint. She can speak to birds and animals, too, and they follow her around. Rather annoying really, and they used to make a terrible mess until Father and all the servants begged her to please keep her forest friends outside! Despite what Mother says, the one thing animals aren’t ever doing indoors is making anything any cleaner! But my father is quite sharp. He’s also very tolerant, as you’ll see. A lesser man never could have endured my mother’s rather odd friends.”  
“Odd how? The animals?”  
“Well, you see, they are seven little men. Dwarves, actually. They were of some assistance to my mother before Father found her. There was also some unpleasantness about a wicked queen who poisoned people…”  
“Oh!” Aurora exclaimed. “So your mother is that Snow White? The one all the stories are about?”  
“Yes, the same. And so you see, I thought that your rather sensitive fairy godmother might be a bad mix in case the Seven Dwarves with their dreadful habits are there. I am sad to say that they are often rude, hygienically challenged, and actively dislike elves and fairies.” He paused and then added, “And then she might decide to turn them into all manner of smelly animals. At best,” he concluded. “They have offended several Elvish lords, and then finally outdid themselves in rudeness to appall the Elvenking himself. I must say it was a good thing that my father had already so thoroughly prepared them for the very worst that no actual battles resulted from the dwarves’ insults. The Elves simply refuse to visit if the Seven Dwarves are going to be anywhere around.”  
“Oh, Phillip, thank you for confiding in me, but I’m sure our families will learn to get along.”  
“Dear, I hope that as well, but when it comes to other people’s behavior, I learned long ago not to rely on hope. Rather, we must hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Therefore, in expectation of the dwarves behaving badly, as it is a reasonable expectation, and since you are the only heir to the throne of West End and the Fairy Realm, and how we have been together for a while now… well… I would just like things to go as smoothly as possible when you meet my parents. Extended family and friends aside, my main desire is that you and my parents like each other. Elves and dwarves are notorious for not getting along, and fairies are rather like elves with wings and quicker tempers. Letting the dwarves and your quite protective fairy godmother have a chance to fight will not add joy or tranquility to our visit.”  
“Surely they would wish us well,” Aurora laughed.  
“My concern is that they will forget all about us in their zeal to fight with one another. You are delightful and sweet, seeing in the best in everyone. That is a charming quality, but as my father would say, perhaps not completely realistic. In addition to dwarves and fairies, we have humans who might get testy. My twelve sisters are rather competitive about clothes, husbands, children, dancing, and jewels; and my brothers, well, they are competitive about almost everything. I’m fortunate really, to be the youngest child, as no one is jealous of me for anything.”  
“You have so many siblings!” Aurora exclaimed.   
Phillip laughed, “Perhaps you were luckier than you know to be an only child raised by fairies! I really enjoy being around you,” Phillip said. “I can talk to you so easily. I’ve never met a girl like that before, who understands how I really think and feel about things; especially about the whole prince, princess, and marriage situation.”  
“I feel the same way. Love always has value, whatever form in comes in. I’m so glad that you understand how nervous I am about being in castle full of people. I’ve lived out in the woods all my life, and lots of people make me feel awkward and self-conscious. And of course,” she laughed, “My unusual situation. Thank you for accepting all of it; that is so kind of you. I’m sure that you will make a wonderful, understanding king someday.”  
“I would if I didn’t have two brothers and twelve sisters ahead of me in line,” Phillip said. “I don’t spend a minute worrying about it. My father is far more likely to try to dispatch me to be king of your kingdom,” he laughed.  
“Well, that’s what I meant,” she said. “We can handle it; we will even tell your father how much we appreciate his help!” she said. Indeed, she would appreciate the help of Phillip and his father. The kingdom she had suddenly inherited seemed populated by disrespectful, angry, scheming men, and she was completely unprepared for how to deal with them. She had wondered more than once that if Phillip hadn’t been there, to take his tale back to his father, that they might not have killed her at some opportune moment. They wanted to kill the fairy, that much was plainly obvious; but they didn’t dare do anything to King John’s youngest son. She didn’t sleep well in the castle, she much preferred being in the countryside or the magical moors, where she felt safe.  
“That would be music to his ears, I’m sure! My father is all about doing what is best for his kingdom,” Phillip said, “Especially where finances and unification are concerned. He worries a lot about what has been happening in the lands to the south, and the doings of orcs, goblins, dwarves, wizards, and dragons. I try not to bother him with my problems, which seem so silly compared to the things he’s worried about.”  
“That’s all right,” Aurora said. “We’ve already solved some of those problems, so if we are providing him with solutions instead of troubles, he should be quite happy to see us!”  
“Doubtless everyone will be overjoyed to see both of us, but perhaps not so much your fairy friend, Maleficent. Please do not misunderstand, I am quite fond of her, and I have no objections to the continued relationship between the two of you, but what will others think?”  
“What will it matter what they think, if we move to the Fey lands?”  
“Well, you see, there are many reasons. What happened there will not be interpreted by others the way you think of it. Most men are not trusting of elves and dwarves, and certainly not of flying fairies with horns. There are also problems in other kingdoms, to the distant south and across the sea. From what I have overheard my father and his friend the wizard discussing, great wars are coming, and they are worried about it. Perhaps it may not happen here, they told me that the darkness may not come this far north, but I did not believe them. Why would they speak in hushed tones and look so worried if that were the case? I have these terrible visions of dragons and great battles.”  
“Do you have the gift of foresight?” she asked with interest.  
“I would not want it deemed that reliable,” he answered modestly. “Say rather that I know well the hearts of men, and would not lie to myself or others.”  
“And I appreciate that,” Aurora confided. “I feel as though people have shielded, sheltered, and lied to me my entire life. I never even knew it, but I was only living with fairies for the first sixteen years of my life. You were the first human I ever even spoke to! How I would have preferred to have been trusted with the truth!”  
“Then I shall tell you one more hard truth,” Phillip said. “As much as you love her and we might enjoy the company of Maleficent, she has a dreadful reputation. She is known as a killer and a curser, and is safest left at home. Please understand that King Stephan’s death has made her no friends. The sleeping death curse which caused Stephan to burn all the spinning wheels also resulted in a collapse of the local textile industry, leaving a great many families with no way to support themselves. Many of Stephan’s soldiers lost their lives fighting her, and their families are angry. Desertions became common, and punishments were unduly harsh. Some of them see her as a demon, and they all blame her. Many people from several kingdoms are still calling for her death. Men trust more easily other men than they do elves, dwarves, and fairies. They see Stephan’s death as the falling of one of their own at the hands of a demoness, and many would see avenging his death with hers as a holy act, blessed by the gods. They might even do it in your name.”  
“No! But I never really knew him, and if the truth be known, I was helping her against him. I love her, and he was trying to kill her! And brutally, at that…” And the horror had happened just after such a tender, exquisite moment between the two of them, too, she thought. After awakening from the sleeping death spell to realize that she was in fact alive again, and that her beautiful, beloved fairy friend had woken her up, she had needed some answers. Although there was of course gratitude and great joy, the end of ignorance and innocence had been at hand. She had invited the apologetic and crying fairy to sit with her, and to explain herself. Maleficent had been very sorry for her actions, and the kiss of awakening had been proof enough of love, but love and forgiveness were not the same things. Sensing that a new beginning was at hand, Aurora told her that if they were to remain friends, Maleficent would have to be truthful, and tell her everything that she had done, starting at the beginning. Aurora hadn’t wanted to believe the first part of the fairy’s story, about how Aurora’s father Stephan had cruelly betrayed Maleficent, and how that had set events in motion. Part of her hoped it wasn’t true, and another part of her felt guilty by association. She loved Maleficent, though, and she had asked for the truth, including the horrible and ugly parts, so when the weeping fairy told her the tale, she gently wiped and kissed the tears away. Maleficent confessed her curse, her anger, and why she had done the things she had. There hadn’t just been one curse on the princess, either. Angry and spiteful, the fairy had layered on a few more for good measure, because she felt like everyone was having a good time but her. She had removed them, later on, so that the princess would not be frightened of snakes and spiders, or the number “9”. Maleficent had wept anew and mumbled something about being very, very sorry that Aurora hadn’t received a special letter when she was eleven, and how she deeply regretted ruining Aurora’s life, but Aurora hadn’t paid very close attention to that odd, rambling digression. She was mostly concerned with what was happening at the moment. It was the main curse that had been unbreakable. Maleficent apologized again for what she had done, and Aurora had asked her if there was anything else. The fairy assured her that there wasn’t, and so Aurora had embraced her, and forgiven her with another kiss, one that she hoped would convince Maleficent of her love in return, and said that now they could be friends without any lingering anger or resentments. So then she had scooted over and lying on her side in what she hoped was an alluring and attractive pose, patted the side of the bed, indicating that Maleficent should lie down and join her. It would have been the perfect time, she had thought, for her own special dream to come true. Instead, that had caused a fresh bout of weeping on the part of the fairy, which wasn’t exactly what Aurora had been hoping for. Then the raven had interrupted, reminding them that the castle was full of soldiers and they needed to leave somehow, not linger any longer. He was right of course, and so slipping away unseen had been the goal. They hadn’t gotten far, before the castle men at arms had been upon them, and a massive iron net had fallen on the fairy. The soldiers had dragged Aurora away, and locked her in an upstairs storeroom. The ending would have been far different, if the raven hadn’t stolen and brought her the key. Any doubt she had concerning the veracity of the fairy’s story of earlier betrayal had been thoroughly erased, when she had looked down that stairway. The princess had never even imagined such awful things before, let alone witnessed them happening to someone she loved. So, risking her own life, she had saved her fairy friend. A battle ensued, and Maleficent transformed Diaval into a dragon, who fought the men and nearly destroyed the castle. Despite Aurora’s pleas, her father hadn’t stopped attacking the fairy, determined to kill her, and so Maleficent killed him with Aurora’s help. That day she learned what evil lurked within people’s hearts, and what they were capable of. Never again did she want to think about it however, and they did not speak of it afterward. Maleficent had knelt before her and thanked her for saving her life, telling Aurora that she would be her servant for as long as she lived. Aurora told her that truly wasn’t necessary, and that she wanted to forget about the entire dreadful afternoon! And she also promised Maleficent something; that she would never, ever behave as other humans had, and would never harm her beautiful fairy friend. Try as she might, however, she found that those memories didn’t fade away, as she had hoped they would. She still had strange nightmares about it, and flashbacks at odd times, when she should have been thinking about happier things.   
“Perhaps you should not tell that story to anyone else,” he cautioned her. During the battle, Phillip and the three pixies had been locked in the kitchen pantry by the soldiers, after they took away his weapons. They knew who he was, and so didn’t risk harming him, but nor were they about to let him go. “It is possible that they may see you as a patricidal murderer. I know how it is and was, but it is unlikely that many others will. They will not understand, and she will not be treated kindly. They will assume the worst, and they will believe the rumors rather than seek out the truth. They will see only the dark fairy, and truly, it will be best if they simply do not see her. That is why I wanted to leave her at home in the Fey lands,” he paused, “For her own good. But…”  
“But…” she smiled, “Maleficent! We know you’re there!” They both looked over into the trees where she had been silently hiding, and they laughed like the children they still were in many ways. “You might as well come out and sit beside the fire with us!”  
She stepped out of the trees where she had been quietly listening. “I am worried for you.”  
“And Phillip is worried for you,” Aurora laughed, as Diaval settled onto a branch beside her.  
Phillip and Aurora slid over on the log they were seated upon. “Dear lady,” Phillip said, “I am not about to take her away from you. We are doing what we must, and wish to return as quickly as we may. Nor have I any intention of coming between the two of you.”  
“Sit down, Maleficent,” Aurora smiled. “Sit here with me. Supper is almost ready, and we made enough for all three of us…” She put her arms around her beloved fairy friend, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You don’t need to worry for me,” she said, and petted the soft feathers of Maleficent’s wings. She was still stunned and amazed that they had reattached to her body, after all those years. Aurora had found them upstairs in a case, and then sewn them onto the fairy’s back at Maleficent’s urging. She had been more than doubtful that anything other than infection and sickness would result, but incredibly, the stitches were absorbed into her body, and the wings became functional again. Then, something like happiness had come back into Maleficent’s life. She had to teach herself to fly again, but she succeeded, and Aurora was amazed at how much flight had really meant to her. Not having ever flown herself, she hadn’t appreciated it, but the fairy had been used to living in three dimensions, not just two. On some level, she was a little jealous. How wonderful it would be, she sometimes thought, to fly! But that didn’t happen except on those times when she asked Maleficent to change her into a bird, and she had quickly discovered that learning to fly takes a lot of practice. She had also learned that transforming wasn’t very much fun; it was like being squeezed, stretched, and stomped into shape. Maybe someday, she thought. But they had so many other things to concentrate on, that flying lessons could safely be put off for other times. They had several days of traveling over low, rolling mountains through long, empty meadows, dark forests, deceptively cold and deep rivers, and endless scrub brush, before they came to the dominion of the White City.


	2. The White City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora and Maleficent meet Phillip's parents, and Snow White recognizes Maleficent as her long lost half sister, Rose Red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tolkien fans:  
> This isn't Gondor, its the ancient Elven city of Dorthinion which is farther north than in the area in which the LoTR saga takes place.

Chapter 2  
The White City

The palace was magnificent, and Aurora was stunned and amazed when she saw it from afar. Nothing like the rustic castle she had known, next door to the Wild Men and the Fey lands, this was truly a majestic palace in the midst of a wealthy kingdom. High upon a great hilltop it stood, rising from cliffs of solid, glittering granite, the palace at the center of the beautiful city was built of white marble, banners waving high in the breeze. Celestial spires rose into the heavens, piercing the billowy clouds, and still that was not the top. Soaring arches above an array of skyward towers, spanning rivers and waterfalls that were only the bases for the highest spires she had ever imagined. It seemed more an abode for eagles or angels soaring through the heavens than a mere human habitation. Around it for what seemed miles, were a series of walls that separated the inner sanctums from the outer fields and pastures. Aurora stopped walking and just stared. “That is your home?” she asked in amazement. Pale marble castles the size of her father’s house surrounded the main palace, and were in turn graced with gardens and orchards, wherein smaller keeps and dwellings of the same glittering white stone were built.   
“White Castle of Ullstead. I only grew up there,” he laughed, “None of it belongs to me.”  
Aurora began to feel intimidated and doubtful, and wondered if she really wanted to go in there. She felt most comfortable in a snug cottage, or in one of the fairy treehouses. The thought that there would be very unfamiliar challenges here crept into her mind. At home, she didn’t have to worry about how she looked or what she did. If her hair was tangled or there was mud on her dress, so be it. She thought about Phillip’s twelve competitive sisters, and felt something amounting to a sense of dread. One thing she realized at that moment was that she was poor. Not just lacking gold, but owing great sums of it because of her father’s debts and policies; and much of that was owed to Prince Phillip’s father, King John. It was something that she had never truly appreciated before. Nor were the jeweled pools of Fairyland anything noteworthy in comparison. The sight of true wealth and power made her feel more worried than anything. She looked over her shoulder at Maleficent, who was silently staring at the immense castle with a strange, faraway look in her eyes. “I don’t know if I should feel right in such a place,” Aurora said. “I already feel uncomfortable anywhere the people outnumber the trees. Maybe you were right about having your parents come to visit us in Fairyland.”  
“But we’re already here,” Phillip said. “We need not stay long but I would like a bath and a proper meal before we set off again.”  
“A bath would be nice,” Aurora agreed. Especially since she knew she smelled like a campfire. Hopefully not a sweaty horse, she thought to herself with a wry smile. It was easy to always make the best of things with humor, and the silent jokes she told herself. There was nearly always a running commentary of funny things going on in her head. Every so often she couldn’t help but simply laugh. Fairies didn’t have a problem with it, but the more serious, dour humans stared at her strangely, some obviously wondering if they had just acquired a crazy woman for a queen.   
“We need not stay long,” Phillip emphasized. “Let’s just clean up, say hello to my parents, have a quick bite to eat, and leave as quietly as we arrived.”  
“It would be pleasant to have a proper meal and a nice bath,” Aurora agreed, the thought of hot water quite compelling. Then, realizing that she might seem a little silly, acting like a shy woodland creature set loose in a bustling human city, she said, “I’m sorry. I would be honored to see your childhood home and meet your family.”   
As they drew closer to the beautiful castle, they passed farms, fields, orchards, and crossed a great bridge that spanned a wide river. People on horseback stared at the fairy, farmers working in their fields stopped and gawked at the fairy, little children walking past with their mothers gaped and pointed at the fairy, until Prince Phillip suggested they wait until nightfall to enter the castle. “We are attracting undue attention,” he said, leading them to a secluded garden spot. “Closer to sunset, the crowds will be gone, and we will be able to enter the palace without an audience.”   
“Perhaps I should fly in later,” Maleficent suggested.  
“No, don’t fly until I have a chance to inform the guards!” Phillip said. “You would find yourself engulfed in a rain of arrows. Until I have a chance to introduce you to my parents, and Father can send an order to all the men not to fire at you, they would assume that you are a threat.”  
Aurora was nervous, but delighted with the beauty of what was around her. She looked at the trees and flowers, stone benches along the paths, and a well. “What is this place?”  
“Just one of many city herb gardens,” he explained.   
“There are so many birds and butterflies,” Aurora observed, “I never imagined that a human city could look like this.”  
“My mother is very fond of plants and animals,” Phillip said. “These gardens are throughout the city for them and for the people.”  
“It’s so different from my father’s castle,” Aurora said.   
“It was not entirely created by human hands,” Phillip explained. “It was built upon the grounds and ruins of an ancient Elven city, which was destroyed by hordes of orcs, ogres, and trolls, along with their dragons in the dark wars of the Second Age. The waterfalls from the inner partitions are original, as are the houses built into the granite cliff. There are pathways throughout the cliffs and below the city. Some of the stones are the same, and the moats and canals were also originally laid by the first Elvenking to ever journey this far North, and some of the stonework was built by the Dwarves. Of course, they couldn’t get along well enough to finish it, and the Dwarves still insist that the Elves didn’t pay them! So now it is the northernmost capital in the world of Men. The Elves used to visit more frequently, or I should say they used to visit my father, until they met the Seven Dwarves, and now Father has to travel to the Woodland Realm to meet with the Elvenking, and his lords.”  
Maleficent touched the great tree in the center of the garden, and the stone bench. There were memories buried there, and however long may have passed, a tree never forgets being cared for by the Elves. She closed her eyes and felt that long stretch of time, and tried to see anything of interest or import there, but living creatures were to the trees like the butterflies were to Aurora; they flitted past and then were gone. The ancient, silver-leafed Tree was happy to meet her, much in the fashion of a little girl who watched dragonflies buzzing by in the summer sun, but all she could hear was the faint whispers of what had once been Elven songs.  
“Have you ever been there?” Aurora wondered. There was so much history and lore that she had been completely unaware of. If this was where Phillip lived, what must the Elvenking’s home be like?  
“Once, as a small child,” Phillip said. “I had never imagined trees so great and tall that the whole city was created up in them, or of such colors! To be honest, that is mostly what I recall, I was so young! How towering the city was, how beautiful the people were, and how very far down it would be to fall, and how tired I was upon climbing!” Phillip laughed. “I remember my father had to carry me the remainder of the way up into the city.” They passed a very pleasant afternoon and early evening in the herb garden, until Phillip decided it was dark enough that few people would be out to gawk at them.   
As they passed through the inner walls, and towards the main palace itself, Aurora noticed that enormous rosebushes, massive things with trunks like great trees, girded the main gates. On the right were white roses, on the left were red, and they perfumed the air with a heavenly scent that so perfectly matched the beauty of the castle that Aurora felt that she had to breathe as deeply as possible to keep the scent. She refrained from picking any as they passed underneath the magnificent rose arches, but she was certainly tempted. Leaving the horse and pony with squires in the stables, they continued on. The outside of the castle was impressive, the interior even more so. As the exterior had been all of white and seemed to soar into the sky, so the inside was equally majestic. Aurora could not help but stare. Gold leaf and light blue marbled walls made the castle seem light and bright as a sunlit afternoon, and the ceilings were painted with gold and beautiful murals depicting various scenes. Great crystal chandeliers hung from the heights, and glittered so enticingly that she wanted to touch them. She gazed around her in wonder at the statues, the indoor gardens, and the brightly colored birds and butterflies that dwelt in the potted orange and lemon trees. So different from what she was used to a castle being! This was like Fairyland had been brought inside. There was no reason why her father’s castle had to stay dreary and dark, she thought, with great inspiration. “I want my house to look like this,” she said to Phillip and Maleficent, as Phillip led them through the corridors.  
“This has taken many lifetimes to create,” Phillip laughed, “But I would be delighted to help you rebuild and renovate your father’s castle,” he offered. Indeed, he was overjoyed that she had asked. It would have been hard to imagine a more dark, joyless and cheerless place than the grim keep Stephan had dwelt in.  
“I’m so excited,” she said, “I’m getting so many ideas!” Aurora noticed that some of the features would be impossible to duplicate, especially the springs that gushed forth from the engraved rocks and flowed down intricate series of crystal formations to create the waterfalls that ultimately joined the rivers far below. The crystals and sculptures within the rocks were also of exquisite workmanship, seeming to glow in sprays of light with enchanted twists and turns that summoned the ancient gods of the Fair Folk and illuminated the room with prismatic colors.  
“A remnant of the original city,” Phillip explained, pointing at one sculpture, which was of an elven woman, raising her hand, and light emanated from her upturned palm, bathing everything in a golden amber glow that was timeless in its summoning hue. “This is the Elven goddess of light. I have no idea how the crystals are cut from the inside, or how they were enchanted to glow, but they always have.”   
Indeed, Aurora was so busy looking at and delighting in all the wonders that she almost didn’t notice that she was about to meet with his parents. Phillip stepped forward to introduce Aurora, when his mother, Queen Snow White jumped up excitedly and said, “Oh, Rose Red!”  
Maleficent looked away from the wonderful sculptures, and at the older queen, still beautiful in age, with snowy white hair and a red, jeweled bow upon her head instead of a crown, and remembered that name. It was a pet name by another child, long, long ago. She recalled faded memories of playing in lofts and gardens, and of the other little girl’s voice. Snow White’s face and laughter were familiar to her; they were those of the girl in the fuzzy memories. Old sights and feelings, dusty and long neglected, began to arrange and sort themselves, and whispered up into the back of her mind. But one thing was certain; the old queen on the throne was familiar. Maleficent paused and said, “I know your face. I have seen you before.”  
“Oh, of course you have!” Snow White exclaimed happily, rushing to Maleficent in delight, her satin gown of sunny yellow ribbons and sparkles swirling around her, and began to sing. “And I would know you anywhere! You’re my adopted sister! I found you when you were a baby, brought you home, and named you Rose Red! Why, I haven’t seen you since the wicked queen sent us both away! A huntsman took me deep into the woods, and instead of kill me, told me to run. I found the kindly dwarves, and lived with them for a time, until the queen tried to kill me again, and the brave-hearted dwarves saved me. Then Prince John happened to be riding by, and woke me up with true love’s kiss. We’ve been together ever since,” Snow White laughed sweetly, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! I’ve always wondered what happened to you, and I’ve thought you were dead! Where have you been all these years, dear?”  
Still looking a little surprised at having been sung to, Maleficent responded, “I have lived in the Moors, land of the Fairies since I was small. I was left there by my mother, who said I should remain with the fey people and wait for her to return. She never came back, and I have always wondered what happened to her. I have no memory of my father. Most of my early memories are of you.”  
“Oh,” Snow White paused with a nervous laugh, “Well, that’s because we spent every day together, of course! But at least you’re here now, home at last! And we have so much to talk about and catch up on!” She tried to throw her arms around Maleficent, who stiffened and stood there awkwardly, arching back, fingers flaring in nervous agitation, tolerating the attention. Snow White squeezed her in squealing delight, oblivious to the discomfort she was causing.  
Phillip sought to calm her down, and said, “Mother, I would be honored if you would meet my dearest friend and fiancée, Princess Aurora. Maleficent, whom you have recognized as your adopted sister, the long lost Rose Red, is Aurora’s fairy godmother.” He turned and separated Snow White and Maleficent graciously, freeing the nervous and grateful fairy from his mother’s grasp. Then he said, “Father,” and introduced King John to Aurora and Maleficent. The king welcomed them kindly, and suggested that they had so many new tales to tell that old and possibly disturbing stories should be left for other times. Maleficent smiled and nodded at him gratefully; not all the memories evoked by being grabbed and sung to by Snow White had been pleasant.  
“This is so wonderful!” Snow White exclaimed happily, “Such a delight! Dearest Phillip has come home with his betrothed! Oh, I’m so glad that the two of you adore each other, and that the old plan to wed our youngest son to Stephan’s daughter is going to come true! We had our doubts, all these years, you know, but now everything will be fine, and they brought my long-lost sister home, too! This is so wonderful! I’m so happy!”  
“Betrothed? Old plan?” Aurora looked over at Phillip, who looked rather surprised as well. He had told her that his parents didn’t expect him to find her at all. They had all suspected that the infant princess had actually died years ago, or might perhaps be found hidden away in a tower somewhere, not quite right.  
“There was some talk of an arranged marriage after you were born,” King John explained. “Stephan sent me a message proposing the idea, and we didn’t dismiss it, but I am very skeptical of infant betrothals, and my wife is a firm believer in finding true love, so we never said yes. Then, after the infant princess vanished, it started to seem like a rather doubtful plan, what with Stephan’s story of fairies and curses. I sent Phillip to the West End to discover if there were any traces of you, and we’re all quite delighted to find you both alive and in love.” He didn’t add that what he’d really sent Prince Phillip there to do was demand a payment on the substantial loans King John had made to King Stephan, but this certainly wasn’t the time to start discussing matters of gold. “It’s always a pleasant surprise when things work out for the best. Welcome to our home, Princess Aurora and Lady Maleficent. Whatever you require or desire, you need only ask.”  
Looking at the glittering assemblage of princesses and their lovely gowns, Aurora felt quite underdressed. The princesses and assembled nobility had magnificent clothes, shoes, jewelry, and hairstyles that left her feeling like a nubby peasant. From the dark, somber functionality of her father’s castle to the wild, natural beauty of the Fey lands and the simple comfort of the cottage she had grown up in, she had never before felt uncomfortable or ill-clothed. Seeing the exquisitely coiffed and dressed ladies and gentlemen around her changed that forever, and the smug, judgmental looks on the faces of the princesses had seared her. Aurora didn’t even have names for these new emotions yet, but they made her feel sweaty, doubtful, and uneasy. One thing she did know was that she wasn’t fond of feeling like that. She found that she quite liked King John and Queen Snow White, who were welcoming and kind, but there were other faces behind theirs that weren’t so nice. When Phillip suggested that they change out of their traveling clothes and dress for dinner, she had never been more grateful. At last away from all those eyes, in a private guest room, she sat down on a small, gilt edged chair and wondered what she should do. Obviously bathing in the beautiful, marble bathtub and enjoying the wonderful, scented soaps and salts had been first, but then what?   
With sudden inspiration and a smile, she let her soft robe hang open a bit, and put her hand on the lovely fairy’s shoulder. Since they were alone, perhaps this would be a good time to let her shy but beautiful fairy love know how she felt. Perhaps the elegant fey woman still saw her as a child. Aurora wanted to dispel that notion, but not too harshly. The one she wanted above all others was very sensitive and standoffish; only the most gentle and delicate of touches would do. Aurora had realized that earlier, but too late to undo some of the initial damage and misunderstandings. Despite her apparent hard edge, the winged woman was very easily offended or hurt. Once, Aurora had tried simply removing her gown and trying to pull the fairy with her into the river, which had met with a horrified squeal, while sultry looks seemed to make her stiffen up and back away. Yet, she knew from the subtlest cues, the tilt of her head or the bent edge of her smile, that the fairy was fascinated, and in love. She hoped so, anyway. Surely the awakening kiss had been more than mere friendship! Maleficent looked over at her, a bit surprised.   
“Yes?” she inquired, Aurora’s hand remaining on her person.  
“I like yes,” Aurora said softly, planning to add another hand, and to pull the knot that kept the fairy’s cloak tight around her, when they were interrupted by an unwelcome distraction. A flurry of sparkles and noise swirled around her, and she recognized her aunties as they materialized out of a prismatic pixie plume of tricolor glitter.  
The three pixies, who had also invited themselves along, hidden in a small trunk like stowaways, had fantastic ideas for how they could dress her, and were flying around her in a flurry, suggesting elaborate designs. They were obviously less than pleased to see that the dark fairy was there.  
“No fairy gowns!” Maleficent ordered them sternly, tightening her own robe as if something untoward and undignified might occur.  
“Why?” Aurora asked her.  
“Fairy gowns are notorious for shifting,” Maleficent explained. “For changing back into rags at midnight, and sometimes simply falling apart; especially in heavily human areas like this…”  
The other three fairies were outraged. “Do you think we would dress her in something that would fall apart?” one asked indignantly.  
“Yes,” was the definitive answer. “You certainly would, because you’re not smart enough not to.” The pixies were quite offended, but Maleficent was unmoved.  
“I cannot go to dinner dressed like a peasant girl,” Aurora said. “That was fine for traveling, with all that walking, camping, and riding on horseback, but this is a palace, and I do not wish to be mistakenly escorted back out!” The looks the princesses and their ladies had given her were quite fresh in her mind, and not an experience she cherished. Aurora did not relish ever feeling like that again. She was wondering whether having a fairy gown that fell apart would really be worse.  
“Tell Phillip and borrow something,” Maleficent suggested. “Certainly they have such items. The king said to ask for whatever we need…”  
“She can’t do that!” the other fairies argued.   
“Why not?” Maleficent demanded.   
“That would be humiliating!”  
“Fairy garments are unstable in densely populated human areas,” Maleficent argued. “What could be more humiliating than her gown turning back into traveling clothes at midnight, or worse yet, vanishing altogether?”  
“Being seen in hand me downs!” the pixies argued. Flittle whispered to Aurora, “Don’t listen to her! Maleficent would put you in a dull black gown like she’s wearing; a true fashion disaster!”  
“What did you just say about me, you fool?”  
“Just let us dress you,” the third pixie entreated. “Don’t listen to Maleficent on matters of fashion!” All three pixies erupted into laughter, and offered, “We can dress you, too, oh, sour wicked fairy!”   
“I am not sour, or wicked, and I do not need any assistance from the likes of you!” Maleficent tolerated the three betraying pixies because Aurora was fond of them, not because she liked them. She viewed them as a shade away from being traitors, and would have disposed of them as she saw fit, except that Aurora would be devastated. So she refrained from wreaking the satisfying justice she would have liked to deliver on the three deceivers. Their assertions of fostering goodwill were hollow indeed to her ears, and she suspected the truth was that they simply didn’t like her, and had cast their lot with the humans, hoping that she would be defeated and destroyed, thus leaving them with much more power over the other fairies than they could have ever gained any other way.   
While two pixies flew around Maleficent, annoying and distracting her, the third pixie changed Aurora’s dress from a sturdy traveling gown to an exquisite piece of wearable art, all ruffled white lace and glittering embroidery. “Blue!” she exclaimed, annoying the others.   
Knotgrass flew over and declared, “Pink!” Then the dress changed into the same gown, but pink instead of blue.   
“No!” Flittle exclaimed, “Blue!” They then became embroiled in a pointless argument that went nowhere until there was a knock at the door, and Maleficent let Snow White in.  
Snow White looked at them and said, “Oh, you’re still not dressed for dinner!”  
“If the pixies would stop changing the color of my gown, I would have been down twenty minutes ago!” Aurora exclaimed in frustration. She was too kind and polite to inform her aunties that she didn’t really like the little girl colors of bright pink or baby blue very much, or ruffles, and would have been much happier in more sophisticated jewel tones. But she was now decorated in a mixture of lace types and purple splotches.  
Snow White laughed sweetly, and said, “Oh, why didn’t you just ask? I have plenty of extra dresses you can borrow! It’s no trouble at all!” Maleficent looked smugly at the three pixies, and smiled as Snow White said to Aurora, “Come with me, and I’ll have you looking lovely in just minutes!” She looked at Maleficent, “Would you like to borrow a dress, too?”  
“No, thank you,” was the polite answer.  
“Are you sure, dear? Then again, I don’t have anything adult sized with space for wings!” Snow White laughed. “We could have something altered, though.”  
“Thank you, Snow White, but I’m fine.” Then Maleficent added, “To pass without being seen might perhaps be my goal.”  
“But you were so much fun to dress as a baby! I still have some of your darling little baby gowns! And I also very quickly learned to only put soft slippers on you,” she added. “She flew around and kicked her shoes off at people,” Snow White laughed to Aurora, who giggled, just imagining it.   
“They must have deserved it,” the fairy answered. She did remember throwing things at people, and feeling quite justified in doing so. Why would anyone hang such wonderful jeweled baubles tantalizingly glittering overhead if they didn’t want the baby to grab at them? Or place pictures of other flying babies, albeit boys with white wings, up where she was only supposed to look at them from a great distance? Especially when those flying babies had a beautiful, golden haired and silver-winged mother in red and blue robes who was holding out her hands to them? And why didn’t those babies have to wear tight, pinching shoes and ruffled dresses that got in the way? It was a scene she had always wanted to get a much closer look at, but they forbade her to touch the ceilings, the chandeliers, the magical springs lit from inside, or the statuary. Maleficent had been confused evermore, wondering why she never met a boy with white wings. She had seen ladies like that in dreams, but nothing else, until she had been left in Fairyland by her mother, and met all the pixies and fey folk whose wings took so many different shapes. Then it simply hadn’t mattered so much; there were lots of creatures with wings.  
“It’s even more fun to dress a baby who can’t fly away and throw her shoes at you,” Snow White said as she led them down the hall to a storeroom of wonderful clothes. “Finally I realized that I could only dress her in pretty little outfits she couldn’t alter into missiles. She wouldn’t let me do her hair, either! Always trying to fly and get away! I loved dressing my daughters, they were stuck right here on the ground!” She told Aurora, “Any of these gowns you would like to borrow is fine. Shoes, too! Take whatever you need.” She turned to her sister, “Can I trust you not to throw shoes at anyone?” she laughed sweetly.  
“Yes. Yes, you can,” Maleficent answered, her eyes going to a pair of black silk shoes with high, spiked heels and a skull and spider motif embossed with sparkling jewels. “I like these, although I am still not quite used to the sensation of having something covering the soles of my feet. I like to feel the earth.” Not so much the cold, marble floors, however, she thought to herself. Those made her shiver, despite heavy gowns and robes, as the chilling sensation went straight up through her feet.  
“Those are my death party shoes, dear. I usually wear those to funerals and wakes,” Snow White explained, hoping that Rose Red wouldn’t decide to throw those at anyone. They could be lethal with the sharp heels and jagged edges hidden in the lace. “But you can wear them if you want,” she added, noticing that her sister had looked disappointed, “And they match your dress.” So on went the shoes.  
Aurora quickly chose something suitable in a dark blue and white, and then asked if she could look through the dresses and borrow a few more. Snow White assured her that was fine, and then noticed Rose Red had been distracted by the many paintings on the wall. Thinking she was interested, Snow White began a guided tour of all the artwork.  
Upon the walls were displayed family portraits, for many generations past, as well as countless landscapes. Maleficent actually thought that most of them were rather ugly old men, the oldest one of whom had very evil eyes, and the wedding portrait of his new bride seemed anything but ordinary. Maleficent thought that she looked like one of the dark elves, but wisely kept that opinion to herself, frequently complimenting the workmanship of the many landscapes. “This is my father’s family’s ancestral home,” Snow White told her. “My mother died when I was very young, so I have almost no memory of her, only these wedding portraits and baby pictures. See, wasn’t she lovely? How I wish I had some memory of her, other than just these paintings! Here she is with me as a baby, before she became ill. When she wished for a child, she wanted a beautiful girl with skin as white as snow, hair of ebony black, and lips red as the rose. That was me!”   
“Your mother was indeed lovely,” Maleficent agreed, gazing at the portrait of a beautiful young woman with black hair and large, kind brown eyes, smiling in excitement at her wedding, and remembered trying to cast a spell like that herself, years ago. Would her baby have resembled Snow White? Perhaps, she thought, the only wonder was that Snow White’s mother knew such a spell. Or maybe Maleficent herself had remembered it by hearing that sing-song story from Snow White so often years before. But she had to say something nice, “And you look just like her.”   
“Well, thank you! And there’s more to see! Poor Mother died shortly after I was born, and dear Father died when I was eleven, killed by a fire-breathing dragon. He was so brave, killing dragons and other monsters! There are lots of songs and old tales about Good King Edward the Dragonslayer.” Snow White took her walking through the halls, in order to show off her family, both her children and her ancestors, most of who were enormous paintings of overweight, wrinkled old men with arrogant expressions and overdressed in jewels and furs, or clusters of smaller images of weak-chinned, pale-faced scions. Snow White’s husband, John, while very charming and handsome himself, had rather unattractive parents, and so most of their children were plain to average in appearance. Maleficent thought that Snow White and her son Phillip were certainly the most attractive of the lot, and feigned interest in all those boring, ugly people, so that she could finally see the ones that interested her; the ones from the time she could only dimly remember. Snow White was giving her countless dates and artists, and going on and on at great length about her father, good King Edward the Dragonslayer, how much she loved and still missed him, and how fondly she remembered him, finally breaking out in one of the more famous sonnets about how wonderful and brave he was.   
Maleficent endured the musical tribute, waiting for it to end, and more than once questioning why she had come to this place to begin with. I came here for Aurora, she reminded herself, and sighed. Finally Snow White stopped singing, and it was a great joy and relief when Snow White showed her the painting that she really wanted to see- the one immortalizing the marriage of Snow White’s father to his second wife. In the painting, the King was obviously very happy, standing with the most beautiful woman imaginable. She had long golden ringlets, and skin of porcelain. Her lips were like blood red rubies, smiling calmly, and her green eyes sparkled like jewels, surveying the world of humans with detached bemusement from beneath long black eyelashes. Maleficent could not help but touch the beautiful image. Her fingers delicately traced the edges of the woman’s flowing green and white bejeweled gown, to her hands, and upwards to her lovely face. She wore a strange, old-fashioned headdress with a sharp angle darting down over her forehead that gave her a cold, stark appearance. Maleficent put her finger on that dark point. She had once worn an outfit quite similar, in her darkest moments.   
“Oh, the headdress was like a mask; it covered a horrible scar on her forehead. She was beautiful, but very vain and cruel,” Snow White confided, “She could be quite terrifying when she wasn’t smiling! That was my wicked stepmother, who had the woodsman take me into the forest and abandon me. He was supposed to kill me, but he was actually a very dear friend of mine, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, I ran away and found the cottage of the Seven Dwarves.”  
“That is the woman who left me with the other fairies,” Maleficent said, lightly touching the swirling brushstrokes of the painting, her hand softly resting on the lady’s cheek as if she were touching the real thing. “I recognize her as easily I remembered you. She told me, ‘Stay here, Maleficent, with the beautiful fairy people. Stay here until I return.’ But I never saw her again.” She tried to feel any spiritual emanation of her mother from the painting, but so much had faded with time.  
“Are you certain?” Snow White asked, quite perplexed. The Wicked Queen hadn’t been any nicer to the fairy baby than she’d been to Snow White. Other than not being beaten as much, Rose Red had been locked away in the towers as frequently as Snow White. Usually, she recalled, together. Those were times when Snow White had to make doubly sure the naughty little fairy baby didn’t escape out a window and ruin the Queen’s banquets and gala events with her flying around and general destruction. Throwing shoes had been just the beginning of the sort of mayhem the mischievous flying baby liked to cause.  
“Beyond all doubt. I recognize her face as easily as I knew yours. We have the same eyes, she and I… see?” Maleficent pointed to the Queen’s luminous, copper-flecked green eyes, framed by her golden hair and draped fabric. And looking at her headdress, Maleficent realized that the Queen must have been at least half-fey; and that she had covered up the truth to the public. She had no wings, but who might say what was under all that draped, heavy fabric?   
Snow White laughed, “But dear, you’re a fairy, and I found you abandoned, outside on a rubbish heap in early spring when I was only eight years old. I took you to Granny Goodwitch, and we took care of you there in the dairy until Father got home, and when I told him how I found you, he said that I might keep you. He was so kind and understanding! Why I don’t ever remember him saying a cross word to me! He thought it was so sweet that I had found a poor little abandoned fairy baby and wanted to keep and take care of you! I named you Rose Red because my name was Snow White, and you were also so very pale and white, with lips red as the rose, and also with eyes as green as spring leaves. That’s when he had the white and red rosebushes planted outside the front gate. I was very lonely as an only child, you know.”  
Maleficent was experiencing difficulty controlling her urge to shake some sense into Snow White, or to transform her into a squawking bird. Then she realized that despite having silvery snow white hair, like the top of an ancient mountain, Snow White had failed to acquire either strength or wisdom in age, but rather had remained an eternal untested maiden. That insight stayed both the fairy’s hand and her tongue. So many harsh words that could have been said early were not. Instead, she was polite for the rest of the art tour, and then asked what she wanted to know, “Yes, the rose bushes I certainly noticed. What remains of my mother’s things?”  
“Very little,” Snow White said. “After she died, all of her possessions were burnt. She was a witch, and people were very frightened of her.”  
“I do not even remember her name. When she brought me to the Fey Lands I was so excited I flew off without even listening to what she was saying. The other fairies were so fascinating I didn’t even pause to look back. How I wish I had! May I see whatever remains of her things?”  
“Her old room is locked up. Everyone is afraid to go near it.”  
“I would very much like to see it, if I may.”  
“I can show you the door,” Snow White laughed. “But the key to the lock has been lost for many years.”  
“Show me the door.” It was not a question, it was a very gentle but firm command.  
Snow White realized that Rose Red could not be distracted, and so showed her where the door to the Wicked Queen’s chamber was. No one had been in there for nearly forty years, and the double doors were hidden by an elaborate tapestry depicting a prancing unicorn in a magical forest. It reminded Maleficent of the Land of the Fairies, and she paused to admire it. “Oh, this pretty tapestry was a gift from my husband’s friend the sorcerer,” Snow White said lightly. “It’s so lovely we’ve almost completely forgotten what lies behind it!” She touched the knob and said, “See, locked.”  
Maleficent looked at the ornate, pewter lock, and thought she could probably pick it with a stick. “Why don’t you bring me those nutcracker tines from the table over there?” she said, looking around for any thin wooden or metal object which would tip the tumbler inside.   
Snow White handed them to her, saying, “Well, I don’t know what you are going to do with those…” when Maleficent inserted one of the little silver hooks into the keyhole, and feeling around for less than a few seconds, popped the lock open, and the knob turned easily. She handed the walnut picks to Snow White and hoped that she would get lost returning them to the table. The door swung open, and Maleficent entered the dusty, long sealed room. As Snow White had said, most of the chamber was bare. Only dark curtains and an enormous wooden bed remained. Maleficent touched the post, and felt faintly familiar with this space. The designs in the floor were gold inlays on wood, and twined together to appear to be ivy-like branches. There were similar vines going up the walls, complete with leaves, into what had once been painted to look like clouds. She touched the walls, and a heavy layer of dust came off on her hands. I know this place, she thought. I was born here, I can feel that most strongly of all. Magic was very thick here once, although its tingling presence had faded with the passage of time.  
She lay down on the bed, and wanted to simply rest and feel the vibrations left in the room. What had happened here, and why? She hoped that perhaps something of the queen’s spirit remained, and that she could detect and speak with her. Snow White was chattering away, “Oh I really don’t like being in here. Please don’t lie down there! You’ve seen it, let’s go now.”  
“I would like to lie here for a while.”  
“Oh, no! You mustn’t do that! Why, I feel like she’s watching us!”  
“That is the feeling I want to listen to, alone. Alone, if you don’t mind.”  
“No! Rose Red, this is an evil room, and you shouldn’t be in here, especially alone!”  
“It is not evil to me,” was the answer. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore Snow White, who after a few more unsuccessful protestations, finally did run away. Presumably to find more people to annoy her, Maleficent thought. She touched the old bedcover, and searched her mind. She traced the gold threads in the black bedspread with her fingernail, and heard the thought… Witch, witch, witch… Fearful, angry voices taking everything away, burning everything. Burning, burning… But nothing more. Again, and again, she recalled being left in the beautiful fairyland, and flying freely through it. Those were her own most cherished memories, and they dominated her mind. I flew away, Maleficent thought. I flew away! Did I fly away while she was talking, did I not pay attention? That was the last time I ever saw her, and I didn’t listen… Of course the queen didn’t have wings, no one but herself had those among the humans, and no one else could fly. And flying for the first time, freely, with the other fairies, and the wonders she beheld! All prior memories were muddy brown, heavy gray, or dark-tinted with feelings of sadness and frustration. Fairyland was so joyful and bright, like a psychedelic experience after so much heavy earth tones. She was flying, flying without the hated ankle bracelets that had anchored her or having the feathers of her wings cut back so she couldn’t get very far. The pinioning of her wings caused only useless flapping. She remembered now fluttering to the ground from windows, because someone kept cutting all the feathers on her right wing so she stumbled in flight. And the damnable ankle bracelets had been used to lanyard her to things, so she could never go upwards indoors; never actually touch those alluring, brightly lit candles, or the beautiful murals and pictures on the ceilings that had held so much secret meaning. All she remembered with true crystal clarity was her mother taking those hated ankle bracelets off, and letting her fly freely without them! No longer a prisoner, she had leapt up joyfully and flown, flown, flown…  
So why had her mother thrown her, as a newborn, in a garbage pile out in the garden? Was that even true, Maleficent wondered. Snow White was simple, perhaps she was mistaken. Fairies sometimes left their babies on beds of flowers when they had to leave momentarily. She looked around the room again, and noticed the soft sky blue of the walls, once painted to look like a summer’s day, but now covered in dust and cobwebs. Painted to look like a magical garden, with bouquets of flowers everywhere…  
“Oh, are you still here?” Snow White asked disappointedly. “I would really like to shut this terrible door and not think about her any more or any of the evil things that happened in here…”  
“Very well, I shall leave if it distresses you so much,” Maleficent said, with every intention of returning later without the blathering distraction of Snow White. She remembered Snow White always telling her she was very naughty and couldn’t do something. Couldn’t fly, couldn’t touch the candles, couldn’t use fairy magic, couldn’t…  
“Yes,” Snow White smiled in relief, taking the fairy’s arm in hers. “Let us go down to dinner, and you shall meet the rest of the family! Five of my twelve daughters are still arriving from the countryside, but now that Phillip is here the boys are all home…”


	3. The Seven Ill-Mannered Dwarves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwarves are well known for their dislike of Elves, and that includes fairies, especially dark fairies with horns and wings. Their atrocious behavior and rudeness starts the fight with Maleficent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dwarven culture is different from human or Elven; and the dwarves' rude behavior would be seen as commonplace and expected among other dwarves.

Chapter 3  
The Seven Ill-Mannered Dwarves

“Our first dinner together as a family,” Phillip said nervously, taking Aurora’s hand. “Oh, I do hope this goes well.”  
“It’s not that bad,” Aurora said, trying to put a happy spin on the situation. “We can get through this. Although I do wish that I had taken your advice earlier… I didn’t realize the dwarves were so… cantankerous.”  
Indeed, after she had chosen several more beautiful dresses in the jewel tones she had always wished for and left the storeroom, planning only to set them down in her own guest quarters, seven angry, belligerent dwarves had accosted her and accused her of stealing Snow White’s things. They hadn’t been polite about it, either, and if it weren’t for Phillip coming by, matters could have become much worse.  
“Oh, dear, you’ve not seen them eat! It’s a spectacle no one should be forced to witness…”  
“Phillip! Aurora!” Snow White called, “How sweet that you’re both right on time for dinner! Come with us!”  
Aurora noticed Maleficent with her, seeming very somber and quiet, like she was remembering upsetting things. Aurora suspected she knew what it might be; a subject they had long delayed discussing. This however, was certainly not the place or the time. “Are you well?” she asked.  
“I’m fine, dear,” was the answer. “But perhaps I shall go to bed early tonight.”  
Approaching the dining hall, seven dwarves were already lined up and waiting for admittance. One thing they never were was late for dinner. The dwarves growled and grumbled to themselves, as Snow White walked in with Maleficent. “It’s a demon!” one of them shouted, pointing at Maleficent.  
“A demon from the depths of hell,” the others agreed.  
“It’s a succubus! Look at those dark wings and evil horns! A succubus to suck men’s souls and damn them!” declared an obese, older dwarf with glasses and an arrogant attitude. “Don’t let her touch you!”  
Snow White said cheerily, “Rose Red, meet my dear friends the Seven Dwarves! They’re from the Iron Mountains, and their names are Horrificus the Brave, who we call Sleepy, Runion, son of Bunion, but we call him Happy; Onus, son of Anos, but we call him Bashful; Rifus, son of Ficus, known as Sneezy, and dearest Boron, son of Moron, but we call him Dopey! This is Doc, and he’s never even told us his real name! Grumpy doesn’t, either! My dear friends, meet my beautiful, long lost sister Rose Red.”  
“Should have stayed lost,” Grumpy complained. “Look at that thing!”  
“Brazen, isn’t it?” Doc assessed, “A demon-succubus from hell, walking boldly in broad daylight through the castle! It killed King Stephan of the Western Territories, it did! Straight up killed him in front of everybody! And now it’s got Snow White under an evil spell!”  
The others looked suspicious, and whispers of “Demoness, killer, succubus, servant of evil, fiend from the pits of hell…” rumbled around the group of dwarves.   
“The Wicked Queen was clearly drinking the blood of innocents and consorting with demons!” Doc concluded, pushing his glasses up over his nose, “To have given birth to this evil abomination!”  
Maleficent was not amused. “What?” She demanded, “How dare you say such things! Take your ignorant insults back; Grouchy, Fatty, Slovenly, Nasty, Itchy, Scratchy, and Stupid!”   
Happy drew his weapon and growled, “And you, evil stepsister, demon spawn of the Wicked Queen, prepare to feel my axe!”  
“I say let’s cleave her head the rest of the way!” Another dwarf added, standing next to the first. Four more dwarves raised their axes and stood beside them. The last and youngest, Dopey, stumbled forward and stood there in front of the beautiful fairy with a dazed expression, staring at her in fascination. His nose and ears turned bright red and wiggled around as a big silly smile spread across his face and his tongue fell out of his mouth.  
“Be nice!” Snow White ordered the dwarves, placing herself between the offended fairy and the six armed dwarves.  
“So,” Maleficent asked Snow White while eyeing the dwarves suspiciously, “Do they have mothers at all, or do they just grunt, squat and deposit another one with a similar name?”  
“Oh, there are female dwarves,” Snow White giggled, “They’re quite a lot like the men, including beards! Indeed, the lady dwarves are bigger, stronger, and fiercer than the men!”  
“How awful!” Maleficent exclaimed, just picturing them in her mind.  
“Yeah?” Doc said, readying his ax and staring the angry fairy in the eyes, “Well, we threw your scheming devil-witch of a mother off a cliff, and you’re the next dead demoness!”  
That these horrible, ugly, foul creatures might have pushed her beautiful, wingless mother off a cliff, sent plummeting helplessly to her death, was instantly enraging, and the last insult she was going to tolerate from them for Snow White’s sake. Maleficent’s eyes were glowing red. Although she could have simply used a sleep spell on them, she wanted to pound them. So she decided to thrash them until they begged for mercy, and apologized. Using a basic wind movement spell, she manipulated the air underneath them, pushing them up and tossing them around in a very localized whirlwind, smashed them together repeatedly. The dwarves howled and growled in protest as they were thrown around by the infuriated fairy.  
Phillip sighed and said to Aurora, “This is what I was afraid would happen! And it only took them less than two minutes within sighting each other!”  
King John took his wife’s hand, and said, “A good old fashioned family brawl. The house is full of life again! It’s been so quiet since the children grew up and moved away.”   
“Oh, no they’re not!” Snow White said. “These people are all going to behave!”  
“I think it’s going quite well, considering the circumstances.” King John was not terribly worried about the fate of the dwarves. In his opinion, he had tolerated them too long, as it was. If his wife’s crazy sister killed them, quite frankly he could see an upside to it. Not only that, but he could claim complete innocence. Those rude dwarves would be gone, his elven friends would come back, and he could shut down their tunnels beneath his kingdom, which would make him sleep a lot easier at night. He was fairly certain those tunnels led straight to the Iron Mountains, and he was not at all pleased about that. The thought that an invading army of dwarves could be sitting right underneath the castle was disturbing, to say the least. The dwarves denied it, but he didn’t believe them. They said they were just mining for gems to give to Snow White.  
Snow White disengaged her husband’s grip and put her hands over Rose Red’s eyes, to break her spell. Of course the angry fairy tried to dodge her and start again, as the dwarves fell to the floor in a noisy, clattering, groaning heap, helmets and axes scattering everywhere. “No, no, dear! Stop that immediately! That’s not nice!” Snow White said, continuing to put her hands in front of the fairy’s face, and blocking both her sight and her spell. “Don’t you remember, dear? No magic like that in the house!”  
Maleficent wanted to continue pounding the horrid, rude dwarves, but Snow White was ruining her spell. “Stop that! Snow White! Move your hands!”  
“No, no, no!” Snow White insisted, moving her hands in front of the fairy’s eyes however she might twist or dodge. “None of that! No messy magic! And no breaking things! This is my house, and everyone in it is going to be good!”  
“Those creatures are rude and intolerable!” Maleficent protested, irritated that Snow White still knew how to effectively ruin her spells, and that now others did, too. She relied on people running away, not blocking her vision. Stephan had been armed with too much information.  
“Yes, they are crude and utterly without refinement,” Snow White agreed, “But remember that you’re no better if you act worse than they do!” Snow White ignored the angry expression on her sister’s face, and cheerfully continued, “And there’s no flying in the house or making messes, either! You’re far too old for that!” Snow White laughed. “No making the chandeliers swing, no touching the murals on the ceilings, and no grabbing at candles! And you’re much too old for me to spank you!”  
“Snow White, I’m not four years old!”  
Bashful, by far the oldest dwarf, who hadn’t said anything yet, seemed to come alive at Snow White’s last comment. “Heh heh,” he grinned, his ears turning red and wiggling, “I want to see that! Snow White, you give that wicked fairy a damn good paddlin’…”  
“Bashful!” Snow White declared, “That was inappropriate! We do not say things like that!”   
The dwarf winked and nodded slyly, “Ain’t gotta bring these guys along, just a box…”  
“Ugh!” screamed the fairy, recoiling in horror at the very thought.  
“No!” Snow White told him. “Now, Bashful, you be polite! If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!” Then she addressed all the dwarves, who were still picking themselves up off the floor, grunting and groaning. Snow White stood there and shouted firmly, “Grumpy! Doc! You will NOT threaten to cleave my sister in the head! You will not threaten her at all! Now go sit down and behave!”  
Grumpy growled, “I say we do her before she does you the way the last one did!”  
“Grumpy!” Snow White scolded.  
“I agree with him,” Happy, the fattest dwarf added, rubbing his substantial and rather bruised behind. “She’s worse than the other one! Just look at her! She’s got horns on her head, she does, like a demon! Never trust an elf! And definitely not a flyin’ one with damn horns on her head!”  
“Happy!” Snow White exclaimed. “How can you say such things? All of you apologize this instant and go sit down at the table!” She stomped her foot at them, “Now! Apologize!”  
The dwarves growled among themselves, and grudging, insincere apologies were extracted.   
“Now that’s better!” Snow White exclaimed. She turned to Maleficent, who was looking rather horrified, and said sweetly in a sing-song voice, “Come to the table and sit next to me, dear, and tell me all about what you’ve been doing these last several years…” Never taking her eyes off the dwarves, Maleficent hesitatingly followed her, and Snow White put her arms around her, leading her away from the dwarves, who were eying her in return. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you again, and I’ve missed you! And I’ve heard a little about Fairyland,” Snow White gushed, “But I’ve never seen it, even though it sounds so beautiful and wonderful! Please tell me all about it. Maybe you can take me there someday.”   
“That was my plan,” Phillip sighed, “But no one seems to listen to a word I say.”  
“Don’t be lured to her loathsome elven thorpe!” one of the dwarves called after them, and another added, “Never eat fairy food, it’s how they keep you there!”  
“Aurora and I have been eating berries, nuts, and mushrooms in the Moors for two years and we’re here,” Phillip said.  
The dwarves ignored him, and Happy said, “Don’t go! They’ll make you a slave!”  
Maleficent glared back at them, almost about to cast another spell before Snow White gently turned her around and led her away, continuing to chatter about how delightful she imagined Fairyland to be. Maleficent started to speak as the servants began to bring in a magnificent feast, and she was distracted by how beautiful it all was. First they served drinks and silver platters of fruits and vegetables, carved into fanciful sculptures garnished with edible flowers. She loved fruits, nuts, and flowers, and these were so prettily arranged on sparkling dishes that she was quite captivated by looking at them all. The servants also brought her beautiful, sparkling goblets of water with lemons and wine garnished with fragrant blossoms that she was immediately quite fond of as well. It was easy to be distracted by these delights and the happy chatter of Snow White and so ignore the dreadful dwarves, glowering and complaining at the other end of the table. The dwarves groaned at the first course of fruits and vegetables, and Grumpy even tossed his salad on the floor in disgust.  
“That ain’t food,” Grumpy announced. “That’s what food eats!”  
Snow White and her family were accustomed to the dwarves’ poor table manners, but Maleficent and Aurora certainly were not. They watched in disgusted amazement as two roast swans and a pig were set before the dwarves, who set upon them with unrestrained gusto. Swilling beer onto their laps and all around the table, they ripped legs, wings, and chunks off of the roasted animals. Aurora tried to ignore it and look away, but Maleficent stared in horror as they ripped the charred beasts limb from limb, shoving large chunks of flesh into their filthy mouths, grinning and guffawing, pieces falling into and then dropping from their mitts and beards. Ripping the wings off of one of the swans seemed to give Grumpy extra enthusiasm, as he waved them around in obvious mockery of the fairy, and then devoured them both in one massive bite, jamming the entire wings into his mouth, and then chewing loudly with his mouth open, pieces falling out everywhere. The other dwarves erupted into raucous laughing and guffawing.  
“How revolting,” Maleficent announced. Then she asked Snow White, “However do you stand it?”  
“Oh, you just get used to it, you know,” was Snow White’s cheerful reply.  
“I would not want to get used to it,” the fairy replied coldly. “They are like pigs at a trough; both in manners and mind.”  
“It also helps not to look too closely,” the king added, “Or indeed at all. The gods know that! Oh, the ambassadors those rude fools have offended! My good friend and ally the Elvenking refuses to visit ever again if there is any possibility of them being here, after what happened last time. It was a shameful display, like what we just saw,” the king recalled with embarrassment. “Directing your conversation at other guests is an excellent idea. It’s not like they’re going to stop eating to listen, anyway. They won’t even slow down until after the second pig has been eaten.”  
“Second pig?” She repeated in dull horror. “They eat like orcs and trolls, shoveling food into their mouths with both hands, grunting and gobbling.”  
“Yeah?” the fattest dwarf responded, picking up a bright red apple from the pig’s mouth, “Well here’s a little something for you.” He threw it at her, and although she easily dodged it, all the dwarves erupted into laughter, spraying food out of their mouths and all over the table.  
“Be nice!” Snow White told them. “Now, just because my wicked stepmother was evil doesn’t mean that my half-sister is that way! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!” The king sighed, and Maleficent scowled while Phillip and Aurora cringed in horror, staring like helpless children. There was nowhere they could look where it wasn’t bad.  
“Yes it does!” Doc answered, shocked. He pointed, “The Wicked Queen was clearly summoning and consorting with demons when she wasn’t drinking the blood of virgins! Just look at that awful thing! Horns, wings…”  
“That’s enough!” Maleficent declared, and made the dwarves’ dinners begin to attack them. She was truly touched that Snow White had acknowledged that she was not just a foundling, an urchin from the rubbish heap, but the king’s child by his second wife, that she resisted temptation and didn’t just annihilate the dwarves in a satisfying conflagration of green fire. Besides, she was a guest in Snow White’s house, and her sister was inexplicably fond of the horrid creatures. Instead, pieces of charred swan, including an angry squawking head and a pig’s ass began to leap about and strike the dwarves in their seats, sending plates flying and mugs of beer over. In the pandemonium, Maleficent stood up and left amidst the chaos and shouting.  
An excellent opportunity, she thought, to slip back into the late queen’s old bedroom. No one needed to know where she was going, and while they were all subduing a pig’s ass was the perfect time. She could hear the dwarves throwing their axes at it, and dishes smashing while she glided away, and up the stairway to the long-unused room.   
Aurora turned to Phillip and said, “Some of these dwarves don’t seem particularly well-named.”  
“I think it is part of Dwarven culture to give certain dwarves reverse nicknames,” he explained. “Happy is anything but, and Bashful, well, when he does speak it would be so much better if he didn’t.”  
“I would have called him Pervy the Dwarf, and warned every woman of his approach.”  
“You might want to extend that warning to everyone,” Phillip added, dodging a shard of saucer. Then he pulled her under the table with him, and said, “If you’re not too tired, I’d like you to meet Leonard. He’s my special friend, and I’m sure the two of you will get along. I’d also like to invite you to our T&T game. It’s called Troops and Technicians, where we pretend to be workers, students, and soldiers in an advanced technological society. It’s lots of fun, and I’ll teach you to play.”  
“Of course,” Aurora smiled, “I’d like to meet your friend and learn something new.”  
“Then let’s escape from here,” Phillip suggested, as he led her under the table, past rows of flailing legs, until finally they darted out of the room, without being hit by anything too large. Bits of food and dishes were flying everywhere, and people were started to run while the dwarves hacked at the enchanted pig carcass and the wooden table. Snow White was screaming at them to stop.   
“I’m glad we’re out of there,” Aurora said once they were in the hallway, following Phillip up the stairs. “Although I think I should go find out where Maleficent went.”  
“Hiding,” Phillip answered, “From the horrid dwarves and everyone else.” He led Aurora to his friend’s room, and knocked on the door. “It’s only us,” he called, as a handsome, dark haired young man answered the door. “Leonard,” he said, “This is Aurora. She’s going to play T&T with us!”  
“Great!” the young man said, and let them in. “Right over here!”   
Aurora was pleasantly surprised by how they had dispensed with most formalities, and she was intrigued as Phillip and Leonard showed her a towering stack of scrolls, rulebooks, some colorful crystals cut into dice, and tiny painted wooden carvings of little people, along with a big map that covered most of the table. “I like these,” she said, picking up one of the crystals. “What do I do?” she asked, looking at the beautiful dice. “And I can play for a little while, but then I really do need to find out where Maleficent went.”  
“Bring her over here to play, too,” Leonard said.  
“We’ll roll you up a character,” Phillip grinned, choosing a scroll and unrolling it before her. “What do you want to play? You can be a soldier, a student, a technocrat, an office worker…”  
“Start off as a student,” Leonard said, “Then later on when you know what you want to specialize in, you can be dual-classed…”


	4. The Secret Chamber and the Magic Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent discovers the old Queen's secret chamber and the magic mirror within.

Chapter 4  
The Secret Chamber and the Magic Mirror

Diaval had wisely avoided the dreadful dinner with the Seven Dwarves, and rejoined his mistress at the top of the stairway. Slipping behind the unicorn tapestry, she easily and quietly entered the room, holding the heavy, embroidered piece aside for the raven to fly in after her. It was silent this time, and the unseen was more strongly felt. She walked across the dusty floor and opened the dark curtains. A huge poof of dust was created, and she noticed a tremendous amount of discoloration on the fabric. They had once been dark, navy blue with silver threads. The sun had baked the exterior into a dull, tarnished gray that sparkled slightly. Opening the curtains, she could see the full moon over the mountains, and Stephan’s old keep in the distance, Fairyland not far behind. Other castles and spires rose from the mountainsides, and she wondered who lived there. They were up so high that the view was splendid. She quite liked it, and wondered how often her mother had gazed out of this window. What had she been thinking? Maleficent wondered if this suite of rooms had been chosen for its view of more than the mountains and the starlight. In the light of the moon, the gold inlays in the wooden parquet floor glittered, catching the bits of light and turning it into a sparkling sea of silvery gold, and she could see more of the original designs in the paintings on the walls. They were lovely, and the insets in the walls where vases of fresh flowers had once been put, to give the room not only the look but the smell of a garden set up high in a tree, made her imagine, or perhaps remember, how beautiful indoors could look. She opened the window first, to let some air in, and then tried the small doors, hoping perhaps to find clothes left in a closet, or even a shoe. But everything had been removed, and as Snow White said, burnt. They had been purging themselves of a witch, after all, Maleficent thought sadly. The back of one closet looked very worn to her, and so she looked more closely. Sure enough, it was not a wall, but a cleverly hidden door. Lifting the wooden panel up gently over the ornately designed tiles in the floor, she swung the door open, revealing a secret chamber. Shafts of moonlight filtered in through the small windows, and she could see a long-cold fireplace on the opposite side of the concealed chamber. Maleficent created a golden fairy light to illuminate the area, and saw that the little room had been overlooked during the witch-purge, and was exactly as the queen had left it, including small portraits of the queen and her husband, boxes and chests, candlesticks, daggers, artwork displayed on the mantelpiece beneath a beautiful mirror, items left strewn about on a table, a long-molded away crystal bowl of fruit. There was an impressive array of scrolls, maps and books on shelves and left out upon a desk. Swords and a bow were leaning up in a corner beside the fireplace, and Maleficent could guess who those must have belonged to; Edward. Ancient-looking maps were set upon the walls, notes scribbled in the margins. One had a large drawing of a red dragon on it. Empty wineglasses were strewn around, and a dusty teapot and half-empty cup were left out on a desk, piles of old books shelved or stacked up beside it. She ran her hands over the spines, and purred happily. Now, at last, there would be a way to learn about her mother! Her books, and the precious knowledge they contained. She took one off a shelf and looked at the pictures inside- they were all of ball gowns. A sewing book, or one on dressmaking, she thought. She blew the dust off of a row of them, and found much of the collection to be just that; a huge selection of books on beauty and fashion. A book of love spells, and a big one left out on the table entitled The Enchanted Arts of Poisoning. A small brown chest sat atop a golden box, and when she went to lift the chest, it grinned at her, showing an impressive selection of extremely sharp, jagged teeth. “Oh!” she exclaimed, and wisely backed away from it. Cautiously, she looked at the statues and painted portraits above the empty fireplace, over which hung a beautiful mirror. The framed pictures were all paintings of the lovely queen, lavishly dressed in different, jewel studded, colorful gowns and headdresses, and the dark fairy admired how elegant and lovely they were. Silently, she admired the gilt edged mantelpiece, the mirror, and the artwork above it. One of the pictures included her husband, King Edward the Dragonslayer, whose sword she assumed was kept there. Maleficent opened a cabinet, and found all manner of odd ingredients in there. Some had disintegrated to the point of being unidentifiable, but many oils, powders, and potions were sitting there on the shelves, their dusty labels still legible. Rose water, beauty oil, olive oil, eucalyptus, and others with cryptic names indeed; Essence of Maiden’s Life, Angel’s Tears, New Beauty, Virgin’s Love; Pure & True, and then Virgin’s Lust; Essence of Anticipation… Some of them sounded rather intriguing, but she wisely refrained from touching any. She read countless bottles of hair shampoos, conditioners and dyes, perfumes, colognes, scented powders, and then she sighed sadly, and sat down on a dusty chair. “Oh, Mother,” she whispered softly, suppressing the urge to cry, and feeling empty and very disappointed, “Were your only thoughts for your hair and gowns? Between you and Snow White, no wonder Edward died! The incessant inane chatter about themselves must have driven him quite mad.” She looked over at an ornate, gilt-edged mirror hanging over the empty fireplace and beside the cupboard of perfumes and potions, and asked sadly, “Oh, mirror on the wall, you would know! Was my mother the vainest of them all?”  
The fireplace immediately lit itself, and the mirror suddenly energized, a flame burning from within that illuminated the secret chamber with a radiant golden-bronze light. As the mirror glowed and hummed to life, a deep, rumbling voice emanated from it, “Yes, my lady. What does my lady desire?”   
The raven, shocked and in terror, hid behind her. His feathers stood on end and he felt the cold, reptilian presence of a serpent. It was a snake, a massive, coiled snake, and snakes ate birds! Birds, he thought, and everybody else! He cawed a warning to Maleficent.  
Startled, she leapt up, and seeing the mirror glowing, shushed Diaval and asked, “What are you?”   
“I am a scrying mirror of truth and far-seeing. Ask and ye shall see the answers to thy questions.”  
“What will happen if I do?”  
“The answers to thy questions will appear. No more, and no less.”  
“What does this knowledge cost me?”  
“Knowledge is power, with power comes responsibility.”  
The raven cawed loudly at her from behind, amazed that anyone would be so foolish as to talk to a serpent, and that the fairy should certainly know better! He called to her again, that the magic mirror was probably full of evil enchantments. So she asked it, “Are you cursed?”  
“No.”  
She cautiously touched the mirror’s beautiful golden frame, and asked, “Do you know who I am?”  
“You are Maleficent of the Fey Peoples, daughter of Queen Clecie of the Woodland Realm and King Edward of the World of Men.”  
Clecie! So that had been her name! Edward’s name was written everywhere, all over the palace, but nothing about the king’s second wife, and Maleficent had only known her as Mother. Snow White had always called her Stepmother. Everyone else had bowed and addressed her as Your Majesty, and referred to her as the Queen. It hadn’t ever occurred to a small child to ask Mother what her name was. “Yes, magic mirror. Do you have a name?”  
“I am the Enchanted Mirror of Foresight and Far-Seeing, last owned by Queen Clecie, your mother. Now, I am yours.”  
“How do you come to be here?”  
“I was made by an Elven sorcerer-smith, in the Undying Lands, long before the World of Men. I laid long, for nearly an age, as a precious treasure in the vast hoard of the powerful ancient dragon, the Great Crimson Wyrm Tor A’Cruth, and then given as a gift by King Edward to his lovely new bride, Queen Clecie of Dusk and Dawn, at the mighty red dragon’s epic fall.”  
“Show me my mother,” Maleficent asked. Several small, painted portraits of the beautiful, blond queen were displayed in the chamber, and although some were obviously wedding portraits of the young couple, others were fashion plates, that displayed the lovely young lady’s choice of garments. Touching one, Maleficent realized, or perhaps remembered, that there had once been many such paintings throughout the castle.  
“She is no longer of this world,” the mirror answered.  
“Show me as she was, then.”  
“As human or fey?”  
“What?”  
“She was born as one of the Fairy Folk, and gave it up to be with him, her great love. She cut off her antennae and wings to be with him, and blinded herself to the beauty of the deep magic of the world.”  
“Before and after!”  
The image of an extremely beautiful, blond fairy came upon the mirror, her luminous green eyes staring out from underneath the billows of curling, cascading golden hair, and between her brows was a glowing blue light, like an eye. Then the same face, but devoid of her graceful, light fawn-colored wings, the glowing aquamarine third eye, and the arching butterfly antennae that had sprouted forth from her brow. She was heavily gowned in dark, bejeweled velvet and brocade, the scars hidden over. Not ever completely healed, but always hidden. Maleficent was shocked, “But why?”  
“For love,” the mirror answered, “For him. She loved him so much she gave up her antennae, wings, and second sight for him. She never wanted him to know what she really was.”  
“That’s horrible!” she exclaimed.  
“Could you please phrase that as a question?” the mirror answered.  
“Was she happy?”  
“Even the very wisest cannot always tell. People do not seem to know when they are happy.”  
“Perhaps,” Maleficent pondered. “Did she have a journal or a diary?”  
“It is there, with the books on perfumery,” the mirror answered, and the room’s reflection glowed in the mirror, the book in question lit up with a soft blue fairy fire.   
“Thank you,” the fairy answered, picking up the book. “That will be all for now. No, wait. Show me the image of my mother again, the one with wings.” She studied the image, and wondered what exactly Clecie had been sensing through her antennae. Occasionally they seemed to emit a white light, and then a prismatic spray, or sometimes it was the reverse. She wondered if the energy was coming or going, and what manner of vibrations she had been experiencing, and she stared at the glowing, blue third eye. What had she been seeing? Clecie had the antennae, but unlike the smaller butterfly fairies, she had large golden wings, much like Maleficent’s own, but lighter in color. She had lots of questions, but no answers. She thought about asking the mirror, but didn’t. The raven was still hiding in a corner, occasionally calling out a warning about it. He seemed to think it was some sort of serpent that was out to get them. Tired of his complaining, she told him he was invited to go outside for a while. Then Maleficent sat down and began to read. She knew better than to trust strange magical objects, especially ones that talked. A diary was a far more reliable tool.   
She flipped to the last entry in the diary, which announced cheerily in a beautiful blood-red script, Things To Do Today. The list was short but indicative, with little drawings of beribboned flowers in the margins. The first three items involved her hair, the last one was Kill Snow White With Sleeping Death Spell, and it was underlined. Maleficent couldn’t help but smile, as she turned back to the beginning of the diary and began to read.  
The diary was erratic, to say the least. The Queen seemed to have an equal interest in things, whether they were momentous or minor, although most of her thoughts centered on her own appearance and her jealous, obsessive love for her husband. Although she was jealous of courtesans, fair maidens, a local half-elf, and servant girls, mostly she was envious and resentful of her husband’s love for Snow White. She might spend four pages to describe a hairstyle, and then end the journal entry with, “I hope to give birth to a son, who will supplant that annoying, singing simpleton Snow White once and for all in her father’s eyes.” But, it was not to be, at least not for long. The queen did give birth to a handsome, mostly human son, shortly before her husband died, and her journal entry was optimistic that she could hide the tail and claws, but to their great sorrow the child died at three months old. Maleficent flipped through pages and pages of lengthy descriptions of gowns and perfumes, only to find a cherished phrase like “My child Maleficent is superior to that gibbering idiot Snow White in every possible way. If only I could claim her! Instead I am forced to stand here mute, watching in silent fury while the princess of inanity plays with her like she is but a pet animal, or a doll. When he laughs at her with Snow White, I feel another little death inside. She is not a toy for that spoiled, simpleton princess! If Snow White would stop singing, even, she would be more tolerable, but no, the caterwauling is nonstop and she brings filthy little animals into the house and hallucinates that they are being helpful. They are not, they make messes everywhere, and it enrages me further. Why does my dear husband not insist that she put those dirty creatures outside? It also infuriates me when she treats my child as one of those nasty forest beasts. Snow White found her, and took her to the dairy woman. They named her Rose Red. I suppose it is sweet, in its way, having half-sisters named together. While I am overjoyed that my little one is alive, it enrages me that one is mistreated and disinherited, because the truth cannot be told. Although I cannot take back what has happened, I will try to change the future. My husband would be pleased if I took a more active role in the children’s lives. So I will…” Skipping forward a few pages of perfumery came the next entry. “Why did I try? It was a disaster. I went to the nursery to discover that Snow White had my child in a cage, and would not let her out as part of their ‘game.’ I grew angry, and upon releasing Maleficent, I told that wretched little simpleton, ‘Never again!’ Then I took a staff and beat Snow White with it until the nurses begged me to stop. I have taken Maleficent with me to my room, and I will not suffer her to be treated like that ever again. Now matters are worse, and my husband is displeased with me...”   
Maleficent smiled, and said to the magic mirror, “Show me the scene where my mother beats Snow White!”  
“Which one, my lady?” the mirror asked.  
“This one, with the cage, that she describes in her diary,” she answered. Then she asked, “There was more than one?”  
“Yes, my lady. There were many instances where Queen Clecie beat the young Princess Snow White.”  
“Show me this one, first.” Maleficent felt a thrill of anticipation; and wondered how many beating scenes she might see.  
“As you wish, my lady,” the mirror answered, and the scene unfolded much as the diary had said. Seeing herself in the cage, Maleficent recalled many such instances of being put into baby prison, and how she hadn’t liked it very much, but there hadn’t been anything she could do about it. Snow White was much older and stronger, and when she wanted to shove little Rose Red into a cage, into the cage she would go. Young Snow White was talking at her through the bars, telling her that she was never ever to do magic, that it was wrong and very, very naughty, and never, never, never to fly around and tip things over and make a mess again, when the Queen opened the door, and surveyed the scene. Her eyes flew open in a rage, and she screamed at Snow White, “Never again! Never again you wretched little fool…” and unlocked the cage door. As the winged child crawled out, the Queen seized an old, decorative staff from the wall and proceeded to beat Snow White with it until two nurses ran into the room, attracted by the howling, and begged the Queen to cease. Finally, she did so, a bruised and wailing Snow White on the floor. The Queen picked up Rose Red, who had been watching the entire scene, and begun to cry as well, storming out in a whirl of anger, long blond locks, and bejeweled velvet.   
Maleficent watched in fascination, and when the action ended, told the magic mirror, “Show it to me again!” She watched it again, this time looking away from herself and the Queen’s exquisitely beautiful face, which was difficult to do, as she was so lovely as to be hypnotic, and noticed that the Queen’s hair and gown was exquisite, laced up in ribbons and jewels, her face perfectly framed by her artfully arranged golden blond hair. Her lovely face was like Maleficent’s, except powdered and painted to be even more beautiful, with a dark cloth adorning her brow, covering what lay beneath from view. When she beat Snow White, her eyes glowed with an unearthly green fairy light that made Snow White howl all the more in fear. Maleficent sat down, holding the diary, and watched it again. And again, and again, and again, laughing gleefully, clapping and giggling. She ignored the raven’s caw, and asked the mirror to show it to her yet again, when she heard a voice behind her.  
“Maleficent?”  
Her focus broken, Maleficent turned around in surprise to see Aurora there. She decided right then that she needed to put a wizard’s seal and password spell on the door. Even Aurora figured out how to force open the old pewter fastening, and she had never picked a lock before in her life.  
“What are you doing?” Aurora asked. Then, noticing the pictures playing in the frame on the wall, asked in wonder, “Is that a magic mirror?”  
“Yes,” Maleficent admitted sheepishly, the beating scene playing itself out to the end while Aurora watched it with her. It wasn’t nearly so much fun to watch with someone else, and her joy was considerably dimmed. She couldn’t giggle and clap with Aurora there, especially since the girl looked so worried and concerned.  
“That’s so sad,” Aurora said, as the beating scene concluded and the enraged Queen stormed off with the winged baby, her eyes aglow with green and red fairy fire; sparks flying from her fingertips. “Is that baby you?”  
“Yes,” Maleficent admitted. “This is my mother’s secret magic chamber.” She took Aurora’s hand, “Please do not tell anyone about this little hidden room. They have burnt everything else of hers, and this is a treasure to me. Do not tell anyone about these things!”  
“I won’t tell anyone,” Aurora agreed, “But I am worried about you.” She looked around the chamber quickly, “Perhaps you shouldn’t be in here alone. Your mother was extremely beautiful, but I wonder about her temper.” And sanity, Aurora thought. She certainly enjoyed beating Snow White. Remember, she threw you away right after you were born, went through Aurora’s head, but although she didn’t say it, the thought was in her eyes. “I don’t think the past holds any real joy for you.” She looked around at the contents of the room. Books, potions, and arcana, “Knowledge, perhaps, but this won’t bring you any happiness.”  
“Aurora!” Then she thought, “Snow White tells inaccurate tales. See, this is who she really was.” She turned to the mirror and said, “Show us my mother as she was before she met my father.”  
“Yes, my lady,” the mirror answered, and the glass darkened, and then a scene of bucolic splendor appeared, a beautiful fairy girl flying around on light brown wings, her long blond hair fluttering in the wind behind her, an effervescent azure crown on her head with butterfly motifs and sky blue ribbons on her body. On her forehead, glowed a cerulean brilliance like a third eye.  
“Wasn’t she beautiful?”  
“Yes, very, and I can see a distinct facial similarity,” Aurora agreed, looking at the alluring image of the beautiful fairy woman flying around, clad only in shimmering effervescence and blue ribbons. Then, she wondered something strongly and said, “Why isn’t she wearing any clothes?”  
“She is! She’s wearing butterfly wings.”  
Aurora looked askance at Maleficent, so primly gowned that only her face and hands were visible, and although what immediately went through her mind was how much she wished her fairy love would strip down to butterfly wings and shimmer upon her, what she said was, “If she looked like that when your father first met her, then there’s no doubt in my mind why he decided to marry her.” By the gods, Aurora thought, that man had it easy! His fairy girl fluttered around naked and chased him down. Mine wears at least three layers, and I can’t peel those robes off of her!  
“No, she did not,” Maleficent confided. “He was distrustful of elves and all the folk of the Woodland Realm. Since he did not approve of the fey, she removed her wings and butterfly antennae to appear beautiful to him. Mirror,” she said, “Show us how she looked when she first met Edward.”  
“Yes, my lady,” the mirror said, and the image of a beautiful girl in a billowy white skirt and little blousy top, ribbons and flowers in her hair and all over her gown, what of it that there was. She was holding a sparkling bouquet of magic flowers, and as the king walked closer, looking at the extremely beautiful, golden-haired maiden, she touched him with the flowers, and he fell under an enchantment as he looked into her brilliant green eyes; as in love with her as she was with him.  
“She put a spell on him!” Aurora exclaimed.  
“Yes, a love spell; she wanted him to love her as much as she loved him.”  
Aurora wasn’t sure what to say. Love spells seemed rather coercive to her, and mutilating and dismembering oneself to be attractive to someone else didn’t seem right to her either, but then this was a fairy who had thrown her baby away. Aurora already wasn’t fond of her, but she didn’t want to say anything insulting about Maleficent’s mother. She also wondered whether they should be rummaging through Clecie’s belongings. Maybe the former queen wouldn’t have wanted her private things, especially her diaries and the magic mirror that told all, burgled through. But that was a thought that certainly hadn’t occurred to her fairy friend. “I am concerned for you,” she said. Then she brightened up, “I won’t tell anyone about this magic chamber, but I think it would be wonderful if we explored it together, rather than just all by yourself. Come with me, there are delights out in the garden I want to share with you. The stonework glitters and glows by the moon and starlight, and there are beautiful white flowers that only bloom at night! We can come back here later tonight, or tomorrow, and perhaps even box all of this up to take home with us; books, mirror, and pretty perfumes! We can hang the magic mirror on the old oak in the middle of the jeweled island, and enjoy it together!”  
Maleficent smiled at Aurora, “Very well. They do not want my mother’s treasures anyway, and I do, very much. I think she wanted me to find them. We will take them home soon.”   
“Wonderful!” Aurora exclaimed. “Lock this room up, and come with me! There is something exciting I want to tell you about! I met Phillip’s friend Leonard, and we played T&T!” Aurora noticed the odd expression on the fairy’s face, and clarified, “It’s a game called Troops and Technicians, and its lots of fun! We pretend to be people in the future who have robots and magic is in little black boxes…”  
“What?” the fairy asked, wondering what Aurora was babbling about.  
“Just come with me, and you’ll see! I had so much fun! In the game, I’m a student, and I learn how to make the machines do the magic…”   
The walk under the apple trees was sadly brief, by Aurora’s standards. As soon as Maleficent saw Snow White and her seven dwarves singing and walking the other way, she turned quickly about. Aurora had to rush to catch up to her. Of course, Aurora found to her dismay, Maleficent immediately returned to the old queen’s chambers. She caught up with her on the stairs. “What are you doing?”  
“I would like to do some quiet reading.”  
“I thought we were going to play in the gardens.”  
“The dwarves are there.”  
“But the palace gardens are immense! They go all the way to the pasturelands! Can’t we go walking over there?”  
“Perhaps tomorrow,” was the vague reply.  
“Maleficent!”  
“Shouldn’t you be enjoying the companionship of your handsome prince?”  
Aurora was startled by the bitterness in her voice. “He has other things he needs to do,” she replied. “I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”  
“I do not need a nursemaid or a governess,” she snapped, and continued up the stairs. The raven cawed at them, and Aurora decided to follow her whether she wanted company or not. She watched with interest while Maleficent cast a spell upon the door, creating a pair of lips that asked for the secret password. She looked over her shoulder at Aurora, and didn’t really want her to hear, or the bird. Aurora knew it, too, and stood there deliberately anyway. Maleficent spoke the password, and the door opened. “Do not tell anyone,” she grumbled.   
“We won’t,” Aurora assured her, wondering why she was being so secretive. If everyone was scared to go in there anyway, what was the point of using such elaborate magic to lock it up? What was Maleficent planning? Or did she really not want to be disturbed? If so, why?   
Aurora followed her back into the secret chamber, and although she felt like she was intruding, she thought that her concern was justified. She looked at the titles on the bookshelves, and noticed that they were primarily about all the ways to be beautiful. Maleficent sat down on the sole chair in the room, and commenced reading, with a slightly annoyed look on her face. To not meet her gaze, Aurora continued to peruse the shelves. Some of the items seemed odd, to be certain. The bottles had strange sounding names, like Witch’s Promise, Holy Ghost, Fried Moonbeams, and Vampire Blood. That last one sounded dangerous to Aurora, and so she didn’t touch it. There were other potions higher up on the shelves, in dark, cut crystal bottles, over a glass apparatus that Aurora suspected was used to distill liquids. Some of the bottles were tied with black or red ribbons, and others were stoppered with strange looking devices that might be used for pouring, and then sealed up with wax. Something about them made her uneasy, and seeing one with a loose paper tag, she inspected it. Handwritten in crimson ink, the label read “Drink Me.” No thanks, Aurora thought. One nearby was labeled, Dwarf Blood; Do Not Use!!! Aurora wondered why anyone on earth would have that. There was an old, powdery, mildewed pink heart-shaped cookie, partially unwrapped and with one little bite out of it. The wrapper had “Eat Me,” written on it in dark red. Oh, no, not a chance, Aurora thought. She found a pretty little jade box, and opened it. Inside was something nasty looking. “What’s this?” Aurora asked, and Maleficent looked up at her in annoyance. “Can I ask the mirror questions?”  
“Yes,” the fairy answered pensively, wishing Aurora would find something quiet to do, preferably somewhere else.   
“Mirror, what’s in this box?”  
“It is the heart of a pig you hold in your hands.”  
“Eeyew!” Aurora exclaimed, and put the pretty box back on the shelf. Was there anything nice in this room? Why did so many things involve blood and beauty, she wondered. So she asked. “Mirror, what are all those bottles with odd names?”  
“The bottles upon the shelves are elixirs, tonics, perfumes, and nostrums. The former queen made and kept many potions concerned with staying beautiful and preserving herself and her memories.”  
Aurora didn’t want anything to do with questionable potions, so she asked, “Mirror, is there anything nice and useful in this room?”  
The mirror chuckled deeply and answered, “That depends upon how you define nice, and useful.”  
“Nonpoisonous and fun,” Aurora immediately answered, wondering why the mirror had a sense of humor.  
“That also depends upon how you would define fun,” the mirror answered, laughing softly. “By your standards, here is something you might enjoy. The tapestry in the far corner covers a closet. Within is where the queen kept her very favorite gowns. Perhaps you might like those.”  
“Oh, the dresses sound nice!” Aurora exclaimed, and followed the mirror’s directions to the hidden wardrobe. She opened it up with a cry of delight. “Oh, look!” she called to Maleficent. “Look at these!” She carefully pulled a dress out of the closet and said, “Look, these are stunning! And you’re the same size she was!”  
Aurora’s excitement grabbed the fairy’s attention away from the old diary, and she took an interest in the gowns. She looked at the oxblood and ebony lace gown in admiration, and then looked disappointed. “I can’t wear them. My wings would be in the way. You could wear them, though.”  
“Thank you, I could just hem one up a little… But here, let’s take the back off of this black and red one, and it would look absolutely stunning on you!”  
“Perhaps,” Maleficent wondered. It would leave her shoulders and arms nearly bare, as well as her back.   
Realizing that she had distracted the fairy from brooding on dark things with something fun they could do together, Aurora insisted they start altering the dresses immediately. To her relief, the distraction was quite effective. They soon had several gowns fitted to themselves, instead of the late queen. Looking in the mirror, Aurora was quite pleased by her own figure, which had filled out considerably in the past two years. I have a fantastic hourglass shape, she smiled to herself, and in the sparkling black and purple jewel tones, she looked far more adult than she ever had before.  
“You are very lovely, Princess Aurora,” the mirror complimented her.  
“Thank you,” she answered politely.  
“So lovely that surely there are none who could resist your beauty and charms.”  
“You would think that, wouldn’t you?” the princess answered, glancing over at the fairy, who was looking from a crimson and black gown to a scroll depicting backless dresses, trying to decide which pattern to duplicate. “But there are certainly a few.”   
The mirror chuckled quietly to itself, and responded, “Perhaps you have not been asking the right questions.”  
Aurora gazed askance at the mirror, wondering what it was implying. If it was hinting that she should slip Maleficent a love potion, and all she had to do was ask which bottle it was in, then she wasn’t going to ask. “I’m not Clecie,” she told the mirror.  
“Of course not,” the mirror answered, in a more respectful tone, “Although your lovely golden hair is quite similar.”  
“Indeed,” Aurora answered, not trusting the mirror at all. Perhaps the proper question to ask was what was so funny, she thought.  
Diaval sat up in the corner, upon what was obviously a perch meant for a bird, and watched them. He was astounded that Maleficent didn’t detect the serpent’s spirit in the mirror. Did these two-legged creatures possess no sense? Couldn’t they hear the hissing in its voice, or the deep, bass rumbling in its laughter? Didn’t they see it’s faint but glowing predatory eyes, or the hunter’s wait? But apparently they couldn’t. And so it played with them. The spirit of a great serpent abode within the magic mirror, and powerless to affect the physical world any longer, amused itself by playing with and tormenting the inquisitive two legged creatures that approached it. He was certain that it had driven Clecie insane, and to her death by use of clever ruses to entrap her mind and thus cause her to do what it wanted her to. It had appealed to her vanity, and then controlled her by giving her the reflections and answers that served its purposes. Nor were the relics and potions contained in the chamber any mystery. They smelled like unnatural death, mummification, and poisons. Yet, Maleficent shooed him away whenever he tried to voice his concerns. So he sat there.


	5. King John's Good Advice Gone Awry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor King John only wants peace and quiet in a harmonious kingdom, preferably without any raucous dwarves, but Snow White remains fond of them. The belt is meant to be a reference to Freya and the Brisengamen.

Chapter 5  
King John’s Good Advice Gone Awry

After the disastrous dinner, King John and Queen Snow White took the dwarves aside and the king said, “You fellows simply have absolutely everything wrong. You couldn’t be more backward if you tried. If you’re fighting with women, you’re doing it all wrong. You don’t have to like her, but you do have to behave, and be amicable. If you cannot bring yourselves to properly apologize, then say it with a gift.”  
The dwarves groaned and complained, “Why should we?”  
“Why shouldn’t you?” Snow White interrupted. “You’re just too stubborn to say you’re sorry! And I’m ashamed of the way you seven behaved! Insulting my sister, throwing food… For shame, on each and every one of you! If you can’t behave, you’ll have to go back to the cottage in the woods or the Dwarves’ Mountain. But either way, you will not behave like that around here!”  
The dwarves grumbled and muttered, admitting they were sorry… to Snow White.  
“Look, fellows, there’s still a way to set things right,” the king said. “What do elves and fairies love above all other things?”  
“We don’t know…” the dwarves grumbled, “Acting stuck up?”  
“There may be a little of that,” the king admitted, “But that’s only when they can’t get any of the things that they truly love, which are Nature, magic, and jewelry. Elves and fairies can’t resist magic or things that sparkle. Especially fairies! Whether it’s a diamond or light on the water, no fairy can resist glittering beauty. Now, you fellows aren’t much for enchantments or Nature, but I know you’re fine jewelers and smiths. Just give the lady an exquisite piece of jewelry, like a bracelet, belt or a necklace, that shimmers and sparkles like starlight on the water, or the new fallen snow, and now you’re on track. She will in all likelihood forgive your appallingly rude behavior, and forego any further attacks. You will find a way to get along with Rose Red, or you will not be here. Since you’re too stubborn to apologize, say it with a gift.”  
The dwarves considered his words, and then Doc asked, “But what if she just takes it and stomps off? Then we’re out the gems, gold and lots of work.” The other dwarves echoed this sentiment loudly. The last thing they wanted to do was lots of work for nothing.  
“Then we shall have my friend the sorcerer work a friendship enchantment upon it,” the king concluded. “The fellow owes me a favor or two, anyway. It is my goal that there be peace and harmony not only in the kingdom, but in my own house,” he said with emphasis. “You will find a way to apologize to the fairy and if you cannot become friends, at least have the civilized decency to refrain from hurling insults.”   
“I think that would be a lovely gesture,” Snow White said. Then she thought a moment, “Something beautiful, with a forest theme, and roses, since her name is Rose Red. Oh, and pretty white diamonds to sparkle like dewdrops upon emerald leaves…” Snow White knew just how to motivate the Dwarves. They wanted to please her, but they also loved creating pretty things for their own sake. Their eyes lit up, as inspiration took hold, and they set off for their forges beneath the castle, hidden deep down in the dark earth. Snow White turned to her husband, “You really are so clever, my dear.”  
“Why thank you. I like to think that I’m at least quasi-intelligent.”  
Snow White kissed him and began to sing, “You’re brave, brilliant, and handsome!”  
John answered in song as well. It may have irritated everyone else when they sang together, but that was his intent. He liked it when they went away, and smiled, remembering how they had used this technique for years to get some privacy, especially from the children, who had run away screaming with their hands over their ears to escape from their parents love songs. “You certainly know how to make an old man feel young again…”  
“Together forever, in a love that never ends…”  
Phillip groaned and then said, “Excuse me, Mother. Father? I need to talk to you.” There was definitely a limit to how much singing and smooching he could stand watching his parents indulge in. Sitting through a discussion with the dwarves was bad enough, but watching his parents kiss and listening to them sing was even worse.  
“Of course, son,” the king said to him. Turning to Snow White, he said, “We shall talk again later, my dear.” Snow White left them, and then the king asked, “What’s on your mind, son?”  
“Well, you see, Father, I’m really feeling rather worried about this whole marriage and love thing, especially with the dwarves and Aurora’s relationship with her fairy friend Maleficent, who did indeed turn out to be Rose Red, as you had suspected. I must say, Father, you were quite correct about that.”  
“Thank you. And it’s understandable to worry about things. Having fairies and other creatures around can be quite trying at times. If I weren’t so grateful to the Seven Dwarves for their assistance to your mother I would be quite appalled by their unacceptable table manners and other atrocious habits. I must say, at least fairies smell good. The dwarves are most hygienically challenged, what with the resistance to bathing, the competitive belching and chronic flatulence, and that’s just the beginning of the troubles with them…”  
“It is more in the area of love that I am concerned. Do you think friendship is enough to base a marriage on?”  
“Much more than romantic love, certainly,” the king answered. “Lust and romance fade like a summer’s day, and then life hands us darkness and clouds. Good friendships can last a lifetime. If you don’t have friendship, you don’t have anything.”  
“I’ve heard to marry your best friend, and since Aurora has become queen of the West End, and the fairies, and I know that an alliance between Stephan’s old kingdom and the fairies does set our family in a very good position…”  
“Now you’re thinking, son! Those are the sorts of things that a king has to be conscious of. There are many sacrifices and hardships of a very personal nature which must sometimes be borne for the good of the realm.” He didn’t say that putting up with Phillip’s mother and her horrid Dwarves in order to secure a much more profitable and valuable kingdom for his future children was part of that, but it certainly went through his mind. Living with Snow White wasn’t that much of a sacrifice, really, as long as he didn’t expect too much. Snow White had a good heart and a kind soul along with her pretty face. Such a shame that a discriminating mind didn’t accompany the rest! He’d been stunned, absolutely stunned, to discover she couldn’t read, write, or do simple arithmetic. It was the only time in his life he’d ever been so shocked that he fell over. Apparently young Snow White had regarded such things as punishments. When Edward felt sorry for her crying and didn’t make her do her lessons, she felt relieved, and saw her stepmother as even more evil for trying to force her to study.  
It seemed to the king that his son had something else on his mind as well, as they discussed family allegiances and alliances, but he wasn’t quite sure what it might be. “There is also the subject of gold, and debt. King Stephan left a most poverty-ridden and depressed kingdom, riddled with debt. Much of that obligation is to us. When Stephan burnt all the spinning wheels, he destroyed the textile industry of his kingdom, which was their primary form of income. Then he seemingly lost his mind and started importing extremely large amounts of iron, which of course necessitated weapons build-ups in all of the neighboring kingdoms, thus driving the price of iron and weapons up even further, requiring additional debt, not only on his part, but for many of the neighboring kingdoms who were suspicious that he was raising a mighty army against them and so forged battlements and created armies of their own…” the king paused to see how much of this his son was absorbing. “In summary, if Maleficent meant to curse Stephan and the surrounding areas with poverty and economic devastation, she certainly succeeded. Now it seems that by allying herself with Aurora in some fashion, and anointing her queen of the fairies and Stephan’s realm, it seems she has bought it out for nothing. Did she plan all of this, or is it a happy accident for her?”  
“I do not think that any of that was preplanned,” Phillip wondered aloud. That was Dad, he thought. He always had his mind on his money and his money on his mind.   
“Perhaps,” the king mused, “Or perhaps she thinks to annex another kingdom, one far more prosperous, absolve the first of its debt and poverty by doing so, and then acquire the surrounding lands for next to nothing. King Stephan’s old castle also needs major repairs, after a dragon and an angry dark fairy destroyed the place. I am not interested in giving her my kingdom or treasure for free.” There was also the matter of Maleficent having been abandoned and thus disinherited. If she chose, she could demand all the property that had been her mother’s. John wasn’t sure exactly how much that might be, but he definitely needed to look into it. He was also wondering what her goals were. It was abundantly clear to him that Queen Clecie had attempted to rid herself of Snow White to ensure that all property was hers, and would then go to her only surviving child. At any rate, a marriage between Phillip and Aurora brought it all home plus some, rather than dividing his assets up.   
“I really don’t think that is what she wants,” Phillip said. “I am nearly certain that Aurora is her treasure. They are very, very fond of each other. I wonder sometimes if perhaps if I am intruding.”  
“Are you certain?” the king asked. “I think you would do well to look past the pretty faces to the finances beyond.”  
“Father, Fairyland has an abundance of gems and wealth, just lying on the ground. And Maleficent took down the wall of thorns.”  
“Whatever for?” the king asked in surprise. That was a strikingly naïve thing for her to have done, unless she was planning upon replacing it very soon.  
“I think it was a gesture of goodwill,” Phillip explained.  
“I think it is an act she will soon regret,” the king told him. “What is her plan for dealing with hundreds of people running around stealing Fairyland’s treasures?”  
“I am sad to say that with her reputation being as poor as it is, there hasn’t exactly been a flood of people coming to visit.”  
“That is all to the good,” the king said, “But I wouldn’t anticipate it staying that way. Count on needing soldiers at checkpoints. It’s not the nine honest people you have to worry about, it’s the one dishonest one. Visitors would be welcome, but people bringing wagons shouldn’t be allowed in, and especially not back out, all loaded up. They will, too, if there is no one there to stop them…”  
Ever practical, Phillip realized that the king was right. “I will speak to Aurora and Maleficent about it,” he promised. “Fairyland itself is quite self-governing.”  
“Good,” the king said, sensing the opportunity to prevent a disaster well before it happened. “I will dispatch a small group of my men to provide immediate, emergency supervision of human entry and exits before the situation spirals out of control.” Prevent disaster in more ways than one, John thought. And perhaps the dark fairy was not the scheming tactician he had feared she was, which was also all to the good.


	6. The Courtesan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is curious about the fairy, but one woman decides to find out what lies beneath those robes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sexy lesbian scene that leaves Maleficent feeling somewhat confused. She has lived alone for a long time with minimal human contact, and isn't sure what is happening or why.

Chapter 6  
The Courtesan

Finally alone after Aurora left to go downstairs to dinner with Prince Phillip, Maleficent was gazing out the window at the sunset when she was surprised to hear a knock at the door. Aurora didn’t knock, she simply spoke the password and came on in. Wondering who it would be, and hoping it wasn’t Snow White come to complain, she answered the door. To her amazement, there was an auburn-haired woman gowned in sheer, gauzy white and gold, with red flowers in her hair. She was carrying a silver tray with some fruit, wine, and cups on it.   
“My lady,” the red haired woman said, “I wondered if you would be hungry or thirsty as you have not been down to eat at all today.”  
“Perhaps a little,” Maleficent answered. Aurora had brought some water, berries, and nuts up earlier, but she hadn’t eaten any. The wine however, looked tempting.   
The girl noticed her looking at it, and invited herself in. She looked around, and noticed that there wasn’t any furniture or anything else in the room, just the enormous bed and the open window. “Where would you like me to set it?”  
“Here would be fine,” the fairy said, gesturing towards the bed. “Thank you.” She was about to indicate that the woman should leave, when she spoke.  
“Has anyone told you about some of our other services?”  
“What?”  
“Anything you need, we will happily provide for you. If you should like someone to style your hair, give you a bath, a massage, or any other type of intimate or personal service, I would be delighted to help you.”  
Maleficent wondered if the auburn haired woman was talking about what she thought she was talking about. She wasn’t dressed like any of the other servants, her thin, transparent white and gold gown looked quite different, and her body was clearly visible beneath it. Then again, she was unfamiliar with human etiquette and customs, especially mating rituals, and didn’t want to offend. The last thing she would want is someone becoming upset, and running to tell Aurora or Snow White that the winged woman was doing something horrible or inappropriate. Taking a sip of the wine, she asked, “What do you mean?”  
“Allow me to demonstrate,” the woman said, gently taking her hand, and moving closer, stroked her hair, and then gave her a quick kiss while their breasts touched.   
“Oh,” the fairy said, understanding what was being implied. “I am unfamiliar with human customs. What does this cost me?”  
“It’s free, my lady,” the woman smiled, “You don’t have to do anything. Just make yourself comfortable, and let me do the rest.”  
It had been many years since she had a pretty girl who liked doing that… But she shut that memory off quickly. She hadn’t thought about Wolfie in a long time, and Diaval had finally stopped making harsh, judgmental comments. Perhaps he had even forgiven her. Looking around, she noticed that the raven was outside, and she decided to keep him there. “In a moment,” she said, closing the window and partially pulling the curtains, then locking the door with a simple spell. Even though she doubted Aurora would miss dinner to come back up to the dusty old chamber, it was not impossible. Now neither Diaval nor Aurora could suddenly burst in and surprise them, but enough light entered through the window to illuminate the room and make the metallic insets in the walls and floor glitter. Then she sat down on the edge of the bed, and wondered what the stranger was going to do. The young woman’s red hair reminded her a little of someone else who had hair like that, and it was another unpleasant, uneasy memory. This girl looked a little like Adrastia, but certainly no bat wings, horns, or long, sneaky tail with which to steal things. I shouldn’t even think about her, Maleficent thought. It attracts her attention, and that is the last thing I would ever want to do. So she immediately blanked her mind of the devilish former friend, and thought about what was currently happening.  
“Tell me what you like,” the auburn haired woman said, kneeling down in front of her and removing the spiked black shoes.  
“Surprise me,” Maleficent smiled. She wasn’t all that surprised when the woman pushed her dress up and stroked her legs. The toe sucking was unexpected, however, and so she laughed and flinched.  
“Don’t be scared,” the woman answered with a smile. “Relax, and I’m going to make you feel very, very good.”  
“I’m not scared.”  
“Mmmm hmmm,” she answered, sucking on another toe. “Shy, and skittish around people, then, like a unicorn, that wants to watch but not be seen.”  
She thought for a moment, “Maybe.”  
“Relax,” she whispered, rubbing her foot. The clawlike finger and toenails had been a little surprising, but so far the fairy was a darling compared to some of the customers she’d had in the past. The winged lady was beautiful, quiet, and shy, and best of all, she would be happy with whatever she got, and not complain or tell anyone else about it. “Relax and let me pleasure you.”  
So the fairy did, and decided to simply go along with whatever this unusual woman had in mind. She liked the rubbing of her feet, and the knowing hands that traveled all over her body, loosening up her clothing. When asked to remove her dress, she did so, letting her black gown fall to the floor. She lay down upon the bed, and let the woman’s hands soothe her entire body.  
“Does your back hurt?”  
“It used to hurt terribly and constantly,” the fairy whispered. It certainly had, after her wings were torn off. In varying shades of nagging pain and jarring agony, she had simply learned to live with the continual discomfort. She hadn’t had much of a choice.  
“I can feel that,” she answered, running her hands gently over the fairy’s back, and then her wings, feeling the scar tissue and the shiver that went through her. So she lightly massaged her, and satisfied her own curiosity about how the fairy was put together. She rubbed gently until she felt the relaxation that she was waiting for, and both wings were flopped to the sides. She kissed the fairy’s cheek, “Roll over, beautiful lady. Don’t fall asleep yet!”  
With a laugh, Maleficent did as she was asked, and was pleasantly surprised that there was no discomfort when she was lying on her own wings. She almost felt young again, before the traumas of removal and reattachment had given her a long lesson in pain. The woman was kissing her, and rubbing her front the way she had her back. When she curiously touched her horns, she smiled, enjoying the warmth and thrill that twinkled throughout her body. She sighed softly, realizing that whoever this talented young lady was, she was very skilled in pleasuring others, and seemed to be enjoying her intimate explorations.  
And the fairy did have a beautiful body, the young woman thought, and pretty breasts with dark pink nipples. She was thinner and lighter than a human, her graceful bones a little more pronounced, like her cheeks. Very delicate and delightful to touch, however, the woman decided, as she kissed her way down. She smiled in delight as she beheld the beauty before her, just lush dark hair; no tail, no feathers, no teeth, nothing unusual at all. Oh, Leonard, you lost this bet!   
“What?” Maleficent asked, feeling a giggle from the woman. She wondered if she was supposed to do or say something, and what that might be. Was there some human custom she was violating? Doubtless, she thought, she was ignorant of many of their ways, and wondered what she was doing wrong. There were so many things it was possible to do wrong, especially with the ladies she favored! Men were usually very direct, and told her what they wanted. Women made her guess, and Maleficent wasn’t good at such games. It was difficult for her, to talk about intimate things, and to express what she desired, if she even knew what she really wanted. She certainly couldn’t tell Aurora what she was usually daydreaming about, what if the girl who called her fairy godmother shrieked and ran away? Screaming and fleeing was something she had experienced before… Then her mind involuntarily flashed back to her involvement and sometimes love affair with Wolfie, and how Diaval had accused her of mistreating her servant, while Adrastia had laughed and called her completely silly; uptight and cold. That was what slaves were for, Adrastia assured her; of course you have your way with them! The she-devil had said that she needed more spark and fire, as well as better sex! But then Adrastia’s idea of a good time… She quickly put that out of her head. To think about her while such energies were flowing was as good as shrieking her name out a window.  
“Nothing, lovely lady,” the elegant courtesan said softly. “Just spread your legs.”  
Letting the weird moment pass without further comment or dark memories, Maleficent sighed and let the woman rub her thighs and kiss her nether lips. Her tongue was as delightful as her hands and fingertips. The fairy wondered what she was supposed to do, and if she was allowed to touch, and how. But she wasn’t sure how to ask without offending, and so she just enjoyed the wonderful sensations, twirling some of the long red hair around her fingers. It felt heavy but smooth, and it shone in the dim light, quite different from the only red hair she had experienced before, which had been thick and rough. She sighed when those magic fingers entered her, and would have happily laid there forever, enjoying the tender stroking and petting, when the woman paused her lapping and sucking long enough to say, “Reach your peak for me, pretty lady, before your friend finishes dinner and returns.”  
Realizing that the back massage had probably lasted much longer than she had been aware of, and not wanting Aurora to catch her doing this, Maleficent sighed and climaxed as the woman stroked and sucked on her. She would have been happy to do it again, as her ecstatic, flapping wings slowed, but Snow White’s dinner party was probably over, and as the woman gently withdrew her fingers and kissed her thighs, the fairy said softly, “Thank you. That was delightful.”  
“The pleasure was mine,” she answered, sitting up and kissing Maleficent gently on the lips. “I love the way you make pretty little noises and your wings flutter when you peak. That’s fantastic!” Maleficent blushed and smiled shyly, sitting up and touching the young woman’s breasts through the transparent gauze with her hand, wanting to know what came next. “I can’t stay any longer, my beautiful lady,” the young woman said, pushing her auburn hair out of her face. Then she stood up, and running her hand appreciatively over the fairy’s body a final time, handed her the dress, and straightened her own hair and gown, tucking something into her cleavage, preparing to leave. The flowers in her hair looked a bit faded and squished. “Do you need help dressing?”  
“No, I’m fine,” Maleficent said, standing up and taking her gown. She wondered, after the lengthy back massage and seduction, why the woman was leaving so quickly; if she had indeed said or done something wrong. She decided not to ask, thinking that she was completely ignorant of human sexual customs, and could probably only offend. She had no idea what she was supposed to say or do. “What is your name?” she thought to ask.  
“Lady Adaliah,” she answered, smiling and then said, “Please don’t tell Snow White about this! She doesn’t exactly approve.”  
“I would not tell Snow White,” Maleficent answered, with a slight shudder, slipping her dress back on. Of all people, that’s probably the last person she would announce this to! And why, oh why, did the red-haired lady’s name have to be so close to Adrastia’s? That caused her to think about the demoness again. So she once again banished her thought and name from her mind.  
“Good!” Adaliah laughed. Then she gave the dark fairy a quick kiss and said, “I’m going to leave before Princess Aurora catches me here!”  
“Thank you again,” the fairy said, taking another sip of wine as the woman disappeared and the door closed behind her, ending the magical locking spell. She wondered what had just happened. Once their clothes were on, did it make a difference if Aurora found her here? Did humans talk about this subject? She wondered who she should ask. Humans were rather peculiar about certain things, especially natural functions, and were unpredictable in their customs and responses. She was looking at the glass and wondering about humans in general when Aurora opened the door and came in.   
“Were you taking a nap?” Aurora asked. The fairy’s hair was disheveled.  
Maleficent smiled, “So to speak.”  
“Do you want to go downstairs with me and listen to the musicians? Snow White and the king are done singing and trothing their love to each other, so now it’s just the minstrels. It’s really beautiful, and you can almost hear it from here. Later some bards are going to tell stories, and I think you would really enjoy it…” Aurora had noticed the auburn haired woman in the weirdly transparent white dress she had passed in the hallway, who had looked a little surprised to see her and rushed quickly past. She had thought it a bit odd, to see a rather naked-looking person wandering around, but palaces were large, she thought, and full of people. Nor was this her castle, so she had no business questioning anyone.   
In another guest room, on the other side of the palace, a dark haired young nobleman sat reading alone. He was startled when the door opened and laughing, the auburn haired woman took a feather out of her cleavage, and stood in front of him, waving it back and forth. “Pay up, Leonard,” she told him.  
“No you didn’t!” he said. “I don’t believe it!”  
“Smell my fingers,” she told him, “And my breath!” She stuck her hand under his nose.  
He took an unwilling sniff before she would move her hand away, and asked, “So what’s under that dress?”  
“Mostly skin and bones,” she laughed.   
“No tail?”  
“No tail,” she answered definitively. “No tail, no horns, no teeth, no feathers, no scales, nothing unusual. It was just smooth, sweet and dark pink.”  
“So what was it like?”  
“Easy as pie and tasted like it too,” she laughed. “Three fingers and some sucking and she came quick and easy, making little noises and her wings fluttering. The wing fluttering was kind of cute. If I was ever going to do her again I’d clip those claws and hair, but other than that, I’ve no complaints about her. Now give me my money!”  
He looked at the brownish black feather, and turned it over and over in his hands, looking at the slight sparkling on the edges. It certainly looked like it had come from the dark fairy’s wings. “She didn’t notice you took this?”  
“It came right out while I was rubbing her back. She didn’t even notice, she was falling asleep.”  
“All right, Anna Marie, I believe you, but what did you tell her?”  
“I told her that there were special, intimate services offered,” she laughed, “But not to tell Snow White about it.”  
“What if she asks to see you again?”  
“She won’t; she wouldn’t even know who to ask. She has no idea what happened. I don’t think she’s actually met very many humans before. And in the unlikely event that she did, Lady Adaliah won’t be available,” she laughed.  
“That’s kind of shitty, Anna Marie.”  
“That’s too bad,” she retorted, “But people are kind of shitty, and there’s whole sides to human nature no one advertises to the fairy world. But that argument won’t work. You made me this stupid bet, now I went into that creepy old haunted chamber she hides in and did her, and I won. So give me my ninety-nine gold pieces, Leonard! Come on! Hand it over!”  
He made a face and a grumpy noise. “When I offered the ninety-nine pieces of gold, I didn’t think there was any chance you’d succeed!”  
“Well, I did, and I’ll stick my cream pie flavored hand under your gay nose again if you don’t hurry up and give me the money. Besides, now you know she doesn’t have a tail or anything else weird, so Princess Aurora won’t be giving birth to anything inhuman.”  
“Like I could go proudly tell everyone how I know!”  
“Not my problem,” she answered, holding out her hand.  
He scowled again, but then went to the chest under his desk. Unlocking it, he counted out the ninety-nine pieces of gold, and put them in a velvet bag. “Don’t spend them all in one place,” he grumbled. “I’m not making any more drunken bets with you!”  
She laughed and said, “Thank you, and thank you pretty fairy lady! I’m going on vacation. I may or may not ever come back!” He scowled again as he watched her leave, alight with her glee.


	7. The Magic Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seven Dwarves create the Brisengamen, and Snow White insists they give it to her sister, Rose Red, as an apology for their rude behavior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler- Rudyard the wizard is Gandalf, but "He had many names, Sam."

Chapter 7  
The Magic Gift

Deep within the earth under the city, in their dark hidden forges, seldom seen by man or elf, the fires were lit, and the dwarves immediately set to work on the gift, weaving precious red rubies into elegant roses, sparkling with diamonds that glittered like the morning dew upon leaves of emerald. Hammers and chisels fell like ringing bells, and their voices were raised in song by dim torchlight and the red glow of their forges and molten metal. Bouquets of tiny gems, hanging and draped from branches of glittering gold, sparkled and enraptured the eye. It was indeed a thing of wondrous beauty. Finally finished, the Dwarves fell in love with their own creation. They were loath to part with the gift, and their hearts were even more filled with greed. Reluctantly, and only at the king’s insistence, they took the exquisitely beautiful belt to the sorcerer, who was to put a spell of friendship and amity upon it. However, as the sorcerer cast his spell, when the dwarves were supposed to be opening their hearts with thoughts of goodwill and peace, they remained full of lust and greed for the thing they had created, and so the result was not a gift of harmony, but an object of tremendous discord. So extremely greedy were they for the beautiful treasure, that they grabbed it from the wizard’s hands, and ran away before the old man could even speak, let alone test his spell. Worried, the sorcerer sent word to the king that the greedy dwarves had ruined the enchantment, and that they should bring the belt back for a magical dispelling, and complete re-working. When the king asked the dwarves, the greedy dwarves answered that the sorcerer was lying. He felt he was underpaid, and so wanted the golden treasure for himself.   
“That does not sound at all like him,” the king said to himself, and taking Prince Phillip with him, they went to speak to the sorcerer in person, who told them that there was no charge for his services. He also said that the dwarves had ruined the spell with their covetousness and lust, and that the belt would be a source of trouble until it was returned, to have what now amounted to a curse removed. “What effect, exactly, is this object likely to have on others?” the king asked.  
“It will incite lust and greed in all those who look upon it,” the sorcerer warned. “Because when I cast the spell of intent, that was what the dwarves put into it. And,” the sorcerer added emphatically, “They put a lot of intent into it.”  
“Those stupid dwarves! Now matters are worse,” the king declared. “Come to the castle with us, and we shall try to remove the curse as swiftly as possible.”   
The dwarves meanwhile, had already gone mad with greed and desire. When Snow White brought her extremely doubtful sister Rose Red to them, saying that they had a gift for her, to show that they were sorry for their previous terrible antics, they didn’t seem penitent at all. Instead, they brought forth the gift extremely reluctantly, with much coaxing, and were peevish when Snow White thanked them, took it out of their hands, and placed it around Rose Red’s waist, where it glittered and beckoned the dwarves to reach over and steal it back. Snow White was wishing she had one just like it, and Rose Red loved the precious object at first sight. Her eyes lit up with delight as Snow White put the wonderful thing around her waist, and she was overcome with a desire for it. Jewels and gold were exquisitely worked to look like a branch of beautiful, sparkling crimson roses and dark, viridian leaves gracing her hips, and she felt an immense rush of joy as she realized that the precious thing was hers! She clapped her hands together in delight, and was absolutely thrilled, until she turned to thank the seven drooling dwarves, who were staring lustfully, grasping and reaching for her. Mistaking their intent, she drew back in utter revulsion and horror, and would have flung it back at them in fury if she hadn’t already liked it so very, very much. Instead she screamed in disgust at their greedy, lustful expressions, and seizing a stunned Snow White’s hand, ran from the room.   
“Those revolting creatures!” Maleficent exclaimed. “The way they were looking at me! Gasping, grasping, drooling… They’ll get no such attentions from me, whatever they might hope!”  
“They’re really not so bad,” Snow White tried to persuade her.  
“What are you basing that on?” Maleficent asked in amazement.   
“They’ve always been so good to me,” Snow White answered. “Lust is a compliment,” she laughed, squeezing the fairy’s hand, “And you are so much more beautiful than you know! Why when I was with them in the cottage…” she giggled, confiding in Rose Red, “And they’ve got enormous…” she whispered, tittering. “But don’t tell anyone!”  
Maleficent was aghast, standing there in horrified surprise, stumbling for a moment, and leaning against a wall for support, both amazed at Snow White’s wrong-headed assumptions and trying to erase the mentally scarring image that had suddenly appeared in her head of that party, “I swear I shall never tell anyone. Not only that, but I shall strive every moment of my life to forget what you just told me!” The very thought of the hideously ugly dwarves and their oversized penises made her feel nauseous, the image of them and Snow White having an orgy in some dirty cottage was even more sickening. So much for her image of Snow White as an innocent maiden, Maleficent thought, trying to erase the awful vision from her mind. Birds, trees and flowers, she thought, just picture lots of singing birds, tall green trees and fields of fragrant flowers...  
“That’s good,” Snow White laughed, not seeing the shocked and disgusted expression on her half-sister’s face. “That really is a lovely belt! Why, I should ask them to make me one…” Indeed, Snow White wasn’t looking at the fairy’s face at all, she was looking in lust at the precious treasure that was girdling her waist, and hanging there like grapes ripe for the picking. It was everything she could do not to simply unhook the belt from Rose Red’s waist and put it back on herself. I’ll just have them make me another, Snow White told herself. No need to cause a scene, just get another one. She knew that if she had to, she could make a secret deal with the dwarves, and she would get what she wanted, by giving them what they wanted… Still, she thought, there was something wonderful about that belt, it was more special than any other, and it would be very delightful if she could hold it again. People looked at the lovely, jeweled belt in envy as they walked the length of the palace, and there were more lustful stares during lunch, and everyone commented upon how beautiful it was. Snow White continued to dwell on how much she wished she had one like it. All through the luncheon and her singing soiree afterward, Queen Snow White could not stop admiring the lovely golden garland around the fairy’s waist.  
But it was not just Snow White who wanted the belt. Everyone did, and it incited envy and greed in all who beheld it. They stared at the beautiful, glittering, bejeweled thing, and all were excited to possess it, and some were including its owner. Hands started emerging unexpectedly as people would distract or compliment her. The powerful fairy didn’t feel afraid, but she did quickly tire of the constant leers and staring. She wanted to be beautiful, and to be admired, but from a distance, not unexpectedly pawed by gropers, intent upon stealing her beautiful belt. This made her stand apart, and away from others. Feeling extremely awkward and uncomfortable, even more than she normally did at human gatherings, she slipped away from the musical extravaganza of an event that Snow White loved to make of a Friday afternoon.  
Naturally shy around large groups of humans, she spent most of her time flying alone or reading quietly in her mother’s old rooms. What she soon discovered that she really enjoyed doing was touching and admiring the wonderful treasure alone, and delighting in looking at the sparkling jewels upon her body in the magic mirror, which told her how beautiful she was. Sometimes, she shooed Diaval away, and locking the window and door, admired the glittering gold and jewels upon her naked body, the mirror complimenting her on her loveliness. When it suggested that she sit on the edge of the table and display all while enjoying herself, she became suspicious. Raising an eyebrow, she wondered why an inanimate object would want to see that.   
“Everyone wants to see that, my lady,” the mirror said, apologizing for its rudeness.  
“Why?” she asked it.  
“Most of the people in the castle wonder what lies beneath your robes,” it said.   
“But why would you want to watch me do that?” she persisted.  
“Because I would enjoy it,” the mirror answered, “We would both find delight in it. Think of me as your secret admirer and servant.”  
“Perhaps,” she answered vaguely. She liked looking at her reflection, but didn’t really want to display anything. When she pleasured herself, it was usually late at night and in the darkness, when she was certain no one, and especially not Aurora or her winged friend, would discover what she was doing. She distinctly recalled, long, long ago when they were young, Stephan calling her nasty for lying around in a tree entertaining herself in such a way. That seemed bitterly ironic, given his later actions, she thought. The three pixies had joined him in berating her for being a lewd, nasty little girl, and they had called her wanton and wicked. Besides, she reflected, she really didn’t know very much about the magic mirror; who might be looking at her remotely? It was an unsettling thought and so she put her gown back on, to the disappointment of the mirror.  
Meanwhile, the dwarves especially were going mad with desire for the precious object, that they now sorely regretted letting Snow White give to her evil sister. They all agreed that somehow they had to get the belt back.


	8. Night Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent had one other friend besides Stephan, a red haired she-devil, and as she flies, she reflects back upon their friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With a friend like that, no one would need an enemy!

Chapter 8  
Night Flight

 

The moon was full and the night air was rich and silent. It was the most magical time for flying. The king had told his men not to fire at her, so there was nothing to risk by admiring the beauty of White Castle from the air. Taking off from the balcony, she swooped down and then up towards the sky. The palace and the entire city were indeed marvelously beautiful from the air in the moonlight. The quartz in the granite glittered softly, and the marble seemed to glow whitish blue. How lovely, she thought, remembering what Phillip had said about the original city being built by the Elves, who loved starlight. She wondered if the city had been meant to be viewed like this, from the air, and by whom. Elves didn’t have wings, she thought, gliding around, but fairies did. Maybe the Elves had magical, winged steeds, she thought. If they had griffons or pegasi, that would have provided them this view.   
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice beside her said.  
Maleficent didn’t have to look to know whose voice it was, and wasn’t surprised that the telepathic demoness had been summoned by her earlier thoughts. To think a devil’s name could summon it as easily as saying the name aloud. “Yes,” she agreed, “It is.”  
“So you’ve come up in the world!” Adrastia laughed, flying close enough to touch her hands, “My beautiful little fairy friend! Still so pretty and slender!”  
“I am just visiting,” Maleficent told her, keeping free of the creature’s grasp, and wondering what she wanted this time. She had already made reference to the fairy’s attractiveness and thinness; something that Adrastia had apparently never stopped resenting her for.  
“Who?” Adrastia inquired curiously, synchronizing her huge, leathery bat-like wings to the fairy’s feathered ones, so they could talk over the noise of their own flapping.   
“Just a friend,” was the fairy’s careful answer. Giving the Princess of Devils any information was foolish. Her father was Asmodeus, King of Stygia on the Outer Planes, and she never tired of bragging about that fact. Adrastia had always looked down her nose at the quaint, rustic realm her pretty little fairy friend ruled, and liked to invite Maleficent to visit at her parents’ palace on the edge of the Outer Planes, dominated by the element of fire, and she wanted to introduce Maleficent to her father. The fairy had always come up with an excuse, not trusting Adrastia to bring her back.   
Last time Adrastia had visited, Maleficent had just returned from spying on the young Aurora, and was still grieving the loss of her beautiful wings. Adrastia had rolled her eyes at Maleficent, and offered yet again that if the fairy would simply go with her to the Abyss and ask her father, he would certainly give Maleficent a new pair of wings. Why didn’t she just go along? Why did she insist upon being the Boredom and Etiquette Fairy, Mistress of Depression, who didn’t like to have fun and didn’t want anybody else to have any, either? But the fairy had still refused. She knew quite well by that time what sort of fun Adrastia liked to have, and that helping anyone else was never the she-devil’s real plan. Even talking to a devil was not a good idea, and she should have thrown a bucket of water on her long before she had actually tried.  
Maleficent had trusted her at first, as a bored and lonely nineteen year old, wandering the woods by herself and wishing for a friend. She had found the red-haired devil woman, then barely out of girlhood, in the woods outside of Fairyland, poking a shallow stream nervously with a stick. Maleficent had found it very odd that anyone should be so frightened of water. Curiously, she had asked the girl what she was doing. “It’s cold, wet, and wants to kill me,” Adrastia had replied, poking the stick into the stream again.  
“It’s only water,” Maleficent laughed. Then, wondering something, she had asked, “Haven’t you ever seen water before?” The red-haired devil princess had shaken her head, no. “You need help,” the fairy declared. Anyone who was that scared of water clearly needed assistance. Then she had pulled up her dark green, leafy gown, and stepped into the stream. Cool spring water flowed over her feet, and she smiled, while the stranger, elegantly dressed in a golden, bejeweled gown, stared. Then, tentatively, she had reached her long, forked tail over and touched the water, only to jump back howling in pain. Maleficent had been stunned. It was just like what happened when fairies touched iron. “What are you? Are you a fire fairy?” Maleficent had asked. They both had wings and horns, but different types. The fire fairy was larger than Maleficent, about half a head taller and much larger around, with heavier hips. She was dressed to display her body, however, and the fairy’s eye was always drawn down to the glittering golden fabric, shining like burnished dragon’s scales, barely covering her breasts and hips. Her hair was a shiny, coppery red with highlights of fire, and her skin was so white as to glow. The fire fairy also had a forked tongue, like a serpent’s, and an impressively long, forked tail, which flicked around interestingly. The fascinating tail had rings and piercings upon it, as did the stranger’s horns, fingers, wrists, ankles, ears, nose, and lips. Glittering black and scarlet gems set around both shiny and burnished metals decorated her body, along with pictures that moved like flames. Maleficent had stared, wondering what she was looking at, and then decided that she was going to decorate herself in such a fashion, even if only with flowers.  
“Who am I,” the visitor corrected, in an impressively crisp tone, considering that her tongue was forked, and she had a natural tendency to hiss. “I am Princess Adrastia of the Outer Planes, of the element of fire. My mother is the fire and earth fairy Lilith, and my father is the Arch-devil Asmodeus, ruler of Stygia, the Ninth Plane of the Abyss. Who are you?”  
“My name is Maleficent. This is my home. My mother left me here when I was seven years old, and told me to remain here in Fairyland until she returned for me. I never saw her again.”  
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Adrastia said, considering this briefly in an absent-minded sort of way. “My mother, Lilith, is one of the strongest fire and earth fairies, and she would never have left me anywhere. I can summon her at any time with just a thought to appear and help me. Can’t you summon your mother?”  
“No,” Maleficent answered. This was the first time she had heard about summoning, or telepathy. But as she was to learn, different creatures had different powers, and devils were among the most deceitful and dangerous of creatures. But at the time, she hadn’t known any of that. She was still thinking that Adrastia was a fire and earth fairy, and so perhaps not so different from Maleficent herself, who was partially a dark fairy, but primarily of the element of air. Wind magic came the most easily to her, and flying was one of her favorite things to do. She was thinking that perhaps they could teach each other new types of magic, and have lots of fun. It had been years since her first and only friend, Stephan, had left.   
“So what is there to do here?” Adrastia had asked, looking around.  
“Lots of things,” Maleficent had replied happily, and taking her newfound friend home to her nest, showed her the creatures that dwelt there in Fairyland, including introducing her to the Three Pixie Sisters, who scowled at them both. But Maleficent hadn’t cared what they thought, and proceeded to show her new friend the jeweled pool, the fields of flowers for dancing in, and the wonderful trees. Maleficent had given her some pretty stones from the pool that Adrastia had admired from the shore, unable to reach in for them. Then they flew alongside the cliffs, and she had showed her guest what was good to eat, and her plant magic. She made all sorts of beautiful flowers grow, and mended the broken branches on the trees.   
“Oh,” Adrastia had said, “I like the flowers and the stones, but I don’t want to fix trees. I don’t really enjoy all that flying, either, it’s too much work. Flying is just to get somewhere,” Adrastia had informed her new fairy friend, who apparently had to be told these things. Let’s have a party! We will have a fairy party! This will be awesome!”  
“Oh yes, let’s!” Maleficent had agreed excitedly, although she enjoyed healing the trees, and didn’t think that flying was work at all, but rather a great source of joy. Adrastia had fire magic, and displayed her abilities to the dark fairy. Flames appeared at her command, and she could cause them to take any shape she desired, and to dance around. Then she made magical floating balls of light, and showed Maleficent how to do it as well. Delighted because she had learned something new, she accepted Adrastia’s offer of a tiny flame, scintillating with many colors. “What do I do with it?” she asked in wonder.  
“You eat it,” her new friend said with a laugh, putting several in her own mouth.   
Wondering what it would do, Maleficent took a little nibble of the tiny, condensed flame that floated in her hand. It burned her mouth, and she immediately ran to the stream for a drink of water. She drank and drank until the burning finally subsided. Then, looking around, it seemed as though the top layer of the world had been peeled away, and she could see the energy, the fire, that lit all of existence and made everything work. It was in the earth, in the plants, the animals, and the air. She marveled at the beauty of the life force in everything, and admired the little sparks of elemental fire that danced and glittered around everything. The energy was everywhere, but the best way to channel and control it was through her hands. Holding her arms up, she let the sparkles slide around on her body, and she played with them, concentrating the power in her palms, and turning many little ones into one larger being, and dancing with it, turned it into various shapes and types of creatures. It was a new form of magic, and she felt like a goddess of creation as she was learning how to manipulate the great, fiery energy fields that came from the earth and sun. They danced tirelessly all day, making more creatures from the elemental fires, and playing with them. While dancing, she felt that she could almost fall in love with her beautiful animentals, but realizing that the energy had taken this shape for her, she released all the little sparkles again, in the form of beautiful butterflies, and let them go free. Then evening fell, and the stars looked to her to be brighter than ever, with prismatic rainbows around them that she had never noticed before. She marveled at the incredible beauty of the night, drawing down some of those beautiful little prisms of light, and making dragonfly-like creatures to fly around and delight her. The reflected light from the moon was just as beautiful as the day, but gentler and easier to work with. She flew through the twilight skies with her pretty new animentals, and then realizing that she had lost Adrastia hours ago, tried to go look for her. It seemed that the flame-magic had altered her mind a little, and so while she tried to concentrate on finding her new friend, there was always some new delight to distract her, and it was nearly midnight before she found her friend. And oh, what she had found her doing! Adrastia had used the firelight-creatures to make herself a flame-man, whom she was quite enjoying having sex with. It didn’t seem like the time to bother her, and so suddenly feeling very tired after dancing and flying all day and most of the night, Maleficent had flown off to her nest and gone to sleep. When she had awoken the next morning, she was so groggy and disoriented that she fell out of her tree. Flapping and catching herself on the way down, she felt burnt out, like all the energy in her had been used up. She was also terribly thirsty, and so had sat down next to the stream, and drank as much water as she could, and still it didn’t feel like enough. Still tired, she sat there by the water’s edge, and occasionally felt like she was burning again, so she crawled into the stream and lay down in it. Looking at her palms, she noticed large black scorch marks where she had been playing with fire. The moonlight had been gentle, but condensing the hot, powerful energy of the sun must have burnt her hands, although she hadn’t noticed it at the time, so enthralled with the new magic was she. Maleficent wondered if it was because she was a dark fairy, and of the element of air. Little starlight and moon flames grew quite large and great in her hands when she blew upon them. She decided to work mostly with the gentler powers of moonbeams and starlight, they didn’t leave scorch marks on her palms, or a horrible burning sensation inside. No more eating flames, she told herself. Now she knew how the magic worked, she didn’t need to eat the internally-burning enchantment to learn about it. She had laid there in the cool stream most of the day, thinking about all the magical spells she wanted to try, until Adrastia had found her. “Wasn’t that fun?” the she-devil had exclaimed in delight.  
“Part of it was,” the bedraggled fairy had answered, showing Adrastia the burns on her hands. She could only tolerate moderate amounts of fire energy, preferably moonlight or sparks, but not great rolling fireballs, like the she-devil could. And somehow the beautiful enchantment had all ended when she’d seen Adrastia down on all fours, mating with the flame-devil. That had seemed so base and sordid to the fairy, who was now lying in a creek, soothing her burns in the stream.  
“Get out of that awful water and come over here,” Adrastia said, “And bring some more pretty stones! I’m partially of the earth element, you know, from my mother, so it makes me fancy sparkly stones,” she’d laughed, “And other earthly delights!” Maleficent realized that she was referring to her tryst with the flame-devil as an earthly delight, and just sighed. That was a joy she doubted she would have survived. So the fairy had tried to crawl out of the water, but that’s when the burning inside and on her palms had started up again, and so after a few minutes she had to lie back down in the stream while Adrastia admired her new gemstones and exclaimed, “Oh, I had so much fun visiting you! I’m going to come back as soon as I can, and we’re going to be best friends forever and ever!” Maleficent nodded in agreement as Adrastia gathered up her new collection of beautiful, sparkling stones and vanished, leaving the fairy lying in the brook, still feeling like she was burning up.  
And so their friendship began. The Devil Princess would appear whenever she chose, always wanting Maleficent to go with her on an adventure or to some party on the Outer Planes, and was frustrated when the Boredom Fairy, as Adrastia dubbed her, wouldn’t go. But the scenes of the parties she wanted to attend always frightened the dark fairy, when she saw them through the dimensional portals the devil princess opened up. Swirling dust clouds of beautiful colors, oddly formed volcanic rock lines, floating blue and yellow flames that appeared and vanished randomly, and a glittering city of brass shone in the distance, rimmed with a fence of green and burgundy flames wreathed together. Creatures were there, too, some had wings like Adrastia’s but most didn’t. The majority of them had reptilian features, well adapted to the desiccated, sandy ground. One frightening but impressive looking creature had a woman’s body, a snake’s tail, and six arms. Other bird and lizard-like creatures were in attendance, and a brownish man with claws and an orcish face was talking to her. Maleficent was very curious, but she was also wary. The terrain looked too alien, the partiers too strange, and the overwhelming presence of fire worried her. Nor was there ever any water in any of the scenes she was shown, and Maleficent was frightened by that more than anything else. She remembered very well running into the stream after having tasted the flame-treat Adrastia had given her. What if there was no water? No, she definitely didn’t want that to happen, and always declined the invitations. In frustration, Adrastia would bring parties to her, in the form of drugs and drinks that the fairy was willing to try as long as she remained safely at home, not whisked away to some alternate plane of existence. Over time, she had realized that these visits were also dangerous. Adrastia acted friendly, teaching her interesting things about fire magic, but there was always a hidden agenda, just like the poisoned dagger that she kept attached to a belt at her side. Poisoning was her specialty, and Maleficent had definitely discovered a correlation between Adrastia’s visits and becoming deathly ill from the drugs and treats the devil princess fed her. She had also noticed that some of the prettiest stones in the pool of jewels were missing after Adrastia’s visits. She also suspected that the fire devil would have them cut and reset into jewelry, which she clearly thought Maleficent wouldn’t recognize. If the fairy asked where they had come from, and if they were from the jeweled pool, as they certainly looked like they were, Adrastia would become outraged at the mere suggestion that she had taken them. After all, she couldn’t touch water! She would remind Maleficent that she had given them to her during one of their fantastical, magic-fueled and disorienting parties, and the fairy could never remember if she had or not. Adrastia also frequently reminded Maleficent who had taught her how to manipulate the great energy fields and how to transform creatures. “You owe me,” was one of her pet phrases, closely followed by “I’m the one who taught you to do fire, life, and transformation magic. Without me, all you would be able to do is fly around and hug trees!” At first, Maleficent had believed her, but then years later, realized that Adrastia hadn’t intentionally ever taught her anything. She just gave her drugs and anything Maleficent taught herself, Adrastia took the credit for, using it as a justification to demand more. And more, and more, and more. The demands had increased over the years, and then became interspersed with pleas for pity and a place to stay.  
“My husband Mammon is cruel,” Adrastia would wail, reciting a litany of her husband’s abuses and how her parents didn’t understand her; no one did. “But I love you, my skinny, pretty little fairy friend,” she would say. “Please say I can stay here with you.”  
He’s a devil, of course he’s cruel, Maleficent would think, listening to Adrastia’s stories and dry tears. But she had taken pity on her friend, and allowed her to reside there in Fairyland. The result had been lots of unexplained wildfires that Maleficent and her fellow fairies sometimes had difficulty putting out. The first time she had lived there hadn’t lasted long, as Adrastia soon claimed that Fairyland was boring, and there was nothing to do. She was also used to the lifestyle of a pampered princess, and didn’t like picking nuts or cleaning up after herself. Nor would she aid Maleficent in fighting the humans who kept trying to attack Fairyland, claiming that it wasn’t her fight, and that she couldn’t interfere. She just watched from a high bluff and sympathized afterward. When some soldiers mistook Adrastia for Maleficent, attacking her in the forest with spears, the devil princess was wounded before immolating the men. Howling with pain, she demanded that Maleficent do something. Since she couldn’t wash the wounds with water, the fairy had tried using some soothing leaves. The she-devil had shrieked that she was torturing her, and wailing loudly, had summoned her mother. Lilith had appeared, and not happy with Maleficent, whom she seemed to think had been tormenting her precious child. Looking much like her daughter but dark haired and older, she had rescued Adrastia, glaring at the wicked fairy that if she should take a step towards them she would quickly find herself engulfed in flames. The second and third times the she-devil had sought shelter in Fairyland had gone similarly, Adrastia appearing unexpectedly with a tale of cruelty and woe, wailing and gnashing her teeth, and then Maleficent would relent and let her stay. Then the wildfires would begin, and Maleficent would find herself becoming ill with sudden, unexplained ailments and burns. When Adrastia left, as unexpectedly as she had arrived, rescued from Fairyland by her mother or reuniting with her husband, all the fairies would dance and sing with joy and relief, begging Maleficent never to let her return. That was when the three traitorous pixies, who had never liked Maleficent from the very beginning, when she had been but a child, began to actively spread rumors among the other fey that the dark fairy herself was evil. Look at her and her friend, they would whisper, isn’t it obvious that they’re both terrible, wicked creatures? Why else would Maleficent continue to let the she-devil plague them with wildfires and torments? Why indeed, the dark fairy sighed to herself. Because she hadn’t wanted to believe that her only friend was truly evil. Just as she hadn’t wanted to believe that the pixies would have helped Stephan against her, or indeed, that Stephan himself would ever truly harm her. She smiled in grim humor, betrayal was a constant, and trust was the trap. Innocence and foolishness had a lot of overlap, she mused.   
The fourth time Adrastia had come to her needing a place to hide, had been just after Stephan had cut off her wings, and Maleficent had never been more miserable. Even Adrastia’s dangerous companionship had been welcome, and her mind-altering spells and drugs even more so. The she-devil had sympathized with her plight, and told her that she loved her even while delighting in the fact that she could fly and Maleficent couldn’t. She had tried to hide her shameful joy, but it had been so obvious that the fairy couldn’t deny it. If Maleficent said something that Adrastia didn’t want to hear, she just flew away, saying there was something she needed to do. Watching others fly while she was earthbound had been tortuous, and her back had hurt. So she had drowned her misery in the magics and potions that Adrastia had shared with her, often enough finding herself quite sick as well as miserable. But when the fog had lifted, and Maleficent asked her for help, in retrieving her wings or killing the villain who had done this to her, the devil princess would only respond that she couldn’t, but if the fairy would go with her to Stygia and ask Asmodeus, he could give her a new pair. Maleficent had been very tempted to agree, but she didn’t want to owe the king of devils anything, and she was afraid that once there, they might never let her return. Then, when Maleficent had begged her, and offered her lots of the jewels from the pool if she would only fly into the castle and retrieve her wings, or at least kill Stephan for her, Adrastia had negotiated for the largest, most beautiful of the stones. Then she had flown into the castle at night, while the fairy waited. When she returned late the following morning, Maleficent had been disappointed to see no wings. “Where are they? Did you kill him?”  
“Oh, no,” Adrastia answered vaguely.  
“What did you do all night long?”  
“Well, I’m going to play with him for a while, and then I’ll kill him.”  
Realizing what she’d really done, the fairy became infuriated. “I will not pay you to sleep with him! And why didn’t you bring me my wings?”  
“They’re not easy to find.”  
“Then look for them instead of rutting!”  
“If you shout at me I won’t help you at all,” Adrastia replied.  
“What you’re doing isn’t helping!” Maleficent argued. “The most important thing is my wings! I want my wings back…”  
“I’ll get them,” the devil princess promised, “Just quit that screaming…” Then she had flown up to a high bluff to enjoy the splendid views and the air, without having to listen to Maleficent.  
But despite the she-devil’s promises, she hadn’t brought her the lost wings. Instead, she had taken the stones and vanished for six months, and then reappeared suddenly with a handsome elven archer. His long blond hair flowed in the breeze, even when there wasn’t any wind, and his face was perfect, especially his sparkling blue eyes. He smiled kindly at Maleficent, and introduced himself simply as Trent. Maleficent wondered what this good-looking, pleasant man was doing with Adrastia. A few minutes of conversation with him later she had her answer. He was quite simple, and while he answered every question the fairy asked with a brief response, he didn’t seem very bright. She didn’t want to call attention to that fact, as it would have been rude, but after asking him to get her some plums from a tree, she took Adrastia aside and asked. “Where did you find him? And he seems very nice, but rather slow of wit.”  
The she-devil had laughed, “Oh, yes, you can’t have any deep conversations with him, but that’s not what he’s for! Isn’t he good looking?” The fairy had to agree on that point, he was very handsome, “And tonight, I’ll share him with you, and then you’ll understand!”  
Maleficent wasn’t sure what to say to that, and Trent had returned with her fruits. When he handed them to her, his hands were gentle and warm, his eyes sparkling as he smiled. Then he took a well-worn pipe out of his pocket, and offered it first to Adrastia, who immediately puffed on it. The smell was strange, like clover and roses mixed with burning leaves. “Elf-smoke,” Trent explained, taking a puff himself and handing it to the fairy. “It’s like hobbit-leaf but much better, and it doesn’t make you cough or smell bad.”   
Maleficent sniffed it cautiously, and it seemed nice, like inhaling flowers, but smoky. She had told herself earlier that she would never accept anything from Adrastia again, but this pipe and the elf-weed belonged to the handsome, blue eyed archer, not to the she-devil. So she cautiously tried some, and liked the sensations. She felt twinkly, and like wandering down long paths to destinations unknown. The special sparkling sensation made her content to walk around under the trees with Trent and Adrastia, and not need to speak. It was enough to admire the beauty around her, and Trent was very impressed with Fairyland, discretely hinting that maybe he could stay. She had fallen asleep from the smoke later in the evening, and when Trent awakened her around midnight, the moonlit clouds illuminating his golden hair, he looked like a god. “Adrastia sent me over here,” he said with a sweet smile, and then he took her in his arms and kissed her. It would be a shame, she thought, to miss out on an experience with this amazingly good-looking fellow because of Adrastia, so she had lain with him, and he lived up to his reputation. When she awoke in the morning, Trent was sleeping soundly beside her, but Adrastia was gone. He lingered around for a few days, sharing his elf-weed with her, and enjoying the delights of Fairyland, including a very active sex life. He seemed completely happy and didn’t ever appear to want to leave. Although lying with him was enjoyable, he wasn’t much of a conversationalist, and he began to bore her. Finally, she started to hint that he needed to go home, which made him look crestfallen. He’d mentioned his disappointment at not being married and not having any children and asked if she wanted any. She did, but not half-fey half-elves who might be a bit simple. What she really wanted was her wings back, and he gave her blank looks whenever she talked about that. So she had guided him out of Fairyland and to the roads which led ever on, so he could go back to wherever he’d come from. Then another few years had passed before she saw Adrastia again, and once again, the princess of devils was in dry tears, needing another favor. Maleficent had just delivered her curse upon the baby princess Aurora, and was in the midst of her own darkness. It seemed that Trent had become trapped on another plane of existence, and Adrastia wanted Maleficent to go with her and rescue him.   
“How,” Adrastia had wailed, “How could you let that happen? I trusted you with him and now he’s lost!”  
“How did he get there to begin with?” she asked. Trent certainly wasn’t capable of opening any dimensional doors on his own; clearly someone else was responsible. “I put him on the main road out beyond the wall of thorns.” Besides, she thought, she had never volunteered to supervise the fellow for several years!  
Adrastia was very vague, mumbled something about her husband’s anger, and then asked, “Wasn’t he handsome? Didn’t you enjoy him?”  
Yes, and yes, the fairy had agreed, but what she really wanted was her wings back, and she explained the curse she had just cast to her friend. In sixteen years, the infant princess would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleeplike death. In the meantime, the three traitorous pixies had taken the child into the forest as an aid to her enemy, King Stephan, whom she had once loved and who had cruelly betrayed her. Adrastia appeared bored with Maleficent’s story, and quickly changed the subject back to rescuing her boyfriend. Maleficent was not averse to rescuing Trent, she just wanted to know where they were going and why, but Adrastia would not tell her, so she finally became irritated and frustrated, refusing to accompany her. Then, Adrastia had told her that she was hiding, and needed a place to stay. So once again, the she-devil dwelt there in Fairyland with Maleficent. The other fairies and Diaval begged Maleficent to send her away. The wildfires started again almost immediately, and the she-devil scared them all with her incendiary rages and endless but tearless weeping about her lost love. Whenever Maleficent would attempt to talk to her about her behavior, Adrastia accused her of being a cold, unsympathetic creature who felt nothing for her dear friend’s misery, and that she needed to be more supportive. Maleficent had only lost her wings, but Adrastia had lost her true love, and that was much, much worse, she would cry, her heartrending wailing sending creatures for miles around into hiding.   
“Have you ever listened to a word I’ve said?” Maleficent asked her in amazement. “I once thought I had a true love as well, and he’s the one who cut my wings off!”  
“Yes, yes, Stephan cut your wings off! Your wings, your wings, your wings! Do you ever think about anything else? At least other than stalking some baby princess? The least you could do is listen to me and try to be supportive! A friend would care how I was feeling.”  
So Maleficent held her tongue, put out the wildfires, and told the fairies to be patient. She listened endlessly to Adrastia’s wailing and travails, how much she missed her true love, and how she suffered. Not only had she lost her love, but her husband refused to give her any portion of the treasures that had been in their house, or their children. She tried many times to talk Maleficent into going there with her to steal back what Adrastia claimed was hers, but the fairy flatly refused. That was so obviously a bad idea she was surprised Adrastia kept bringing it up. When the fairy asked why she didn’t simply go live with her parents again, she gave vague, evasive answers about how no one understood her, and once, in a drug-induced stupor, admitted to having slept with her sister’s husband, and the husband’s brother, who was his sworn enemy, which had started an interplanal battle throughout the Abyss. Her parents had picked sides, and there was fighting everywhere. So, she had wept, she had nowhere else to go. Maleficent thought that Adrastia certainly caused a lot of trouble, but she asked only one thing of Adrastia, which was that she sneak into Stephan’s castle, find her wings, and bring them back. Occasionally Adrastia would recover from her love-stricken malaise enough to appear in the castle, but she came back empty handed, complaining loudly of the onerous task placed upon her by her selfish, unfeeling friend. Adrastia often commented that she thought the unsympathetic dark fairy’s heart was made of ice and deep, cold water over solid stone. However, listening to the she-devil, Maleficent gradually noticed something she thought was odd. Throughout all of Adrastia’s wailing about Trent, she never worried about whether or not he was suffering, all of her concern was directed towards herself and her loss of his talents. That observation had a chilling effect on her friendship with Adrastia, and she began to feel a pervading sense of revulsion towards her. Maleficent hadn’t wished any ill upon the sexy elf man, and Adrastia’s attitude towards him was the same one the she-devil had always taken towards Maleficent herself after their parties, where the fairy would be burned or sick. The devil princess noticed, and stopped crying about Trent, and instead worked to reaffirm the fairy’s loyalty. She told the fairy how much she loved her, yet never touched her, and gave her little presents and treats, mixed in with which was a poisonous mushroom. The fairy had noticed it, and refused to taste it, whereupon Adrastia had apologized for her carelessness. Her servants, Wolfie and Diaval, had pleaded with her repeatedly to send the she-devil away, telling terrifying tales of what she did when the fairy wasn’t looking. “She’s not your friend,” Diaval had told her several times, “She hates you because you’re stronger and more beautiful than she is, and since those things can’t be stolen, like jewels from the pools, she’ll destroy them by murdering you. Don’t you see it? She’s just using you, and deprived of her own home, she’s going to kill you and take yours. Get rid of her before she succeeds!”   
So Maleficent had demanded that Adrastia either fetch the wings for her, or leave Fairyland permanently. “How can you ask so much of me, you heartless thing? And after everything I’ve done for you! I shared my boyfriend with you, and taught you magic! In return, you won’t help me at all and try to send me to my death! You could at least try to be more supportive! I have been deprived of my wealth and my children, and you don’t care, you don’t care about anything but yourself!”  
“A real friend stabs you in the front, not the back,” Maleficent had responded.  
“Stone cold, icy-hearted, wicked dark fairy! Have you no pity for anyone at all?” Adrastia cried. The howling and wailing from the she-devil brought on a heat wave and drought the likes of which the land had never endured before, as she accused the fairy of being evil and cruel. Had the fairy no sympathy at all for her poor, unfortunate friend? Pitiless, heartless, and now friendless Maleficent could enjoy her creepy spying on the cursed princess without a companion! Then Adrastia had avoided her for several weeks, hiding in the treetops and the jagged cliff edges of Fairyland where Maleficent herself could no longer go. The irony was not lost upon the unhappy fairy, who could only watch the she-devil fly high up into the winds, and feel the parched earth grow ever hotter and drier with Adrastia’s anger. Then, after a light rain, during which the she-devil was nowhere to be found, she came back down, and pretended nothing had ever happened. She was outraged and infuriated when the fairy held to her demand that Adrastia fetch for her the lost wings, or leave. She became enraged, and setting a tremendous fire in Fairyland, vanished, leaving the panicking residents to quench the flames, which spread terrifyingly fast due to the recent drought. The scorched earth and blackened, twisted trees with their almost inaudible moans and weeping dryads became a lasting monument to the love and friendship of Adrastia. Maleficent wept too, as the other fey looked askance at her, and blamed her for their misery.  
So then Adrastia had played her succubus games with Stephan, appearing to him in his dreams, which began most beguilingly, and that he would wake from feeling strangely like he’d just had sex with a demoness, all the while blaming Maleficent for having sent this horned, winged, nocturnal predator. He would awaken, exhausted and terrified from his dreams of Hell, feeling like the she-devil was still there in bed with him. He sent for priests, healers, and even a tribal medicine woman from the snowy barbarian lands to the far north, but although they could all diagnose the demonic visitations, they were powerless to stop them. He felt like he was losing his mind. During the time Stephan was afflicted with the dreams, the good queen also began to sicken, and several months later, she died. Never did the she-devil ever return to Fairyland with the cherished wings. Instead, she simply enjoyed tormenting the king and queen, and watching the renewed attacks the king’s men made on Fairyland, trying to kill Maleficent and stop the astral visitations. The fairy had felt cruelly and completely betrayed, and the next time Adrastia had appeared, begging for help and spinning her lies, Maleficent tried to throw a bucket of water on her. The she-devil had dodged most of the water, but those few droplets that had touched her, caused unearthly howling, and her sultry appearance had turned into that of an ugly, sneering demoness. “Don’t ever return,” Maleficent told her. Now here she was again.  
It was then that Adrastia’s attention fell upon the magic belt. “Can I see the inside of the palace?” Adrastia asked, looking very eager, a bright flame lighting up in her eyes.   
“I do not think that would be wise.” Just because she had long ago innocently allowed a devil into her home, didn’t mean that she should invite that same devil into her sister’s house. She looked over at Adrastia, who was gliding beside her easily, her black and russet red, bat-like wings keeping up with Maleficent’s speed without much effort. Adrastia had grown older and stronger, as had Maleficent, and was dressed as she had always preferred, in fine fabrics and large amounts of jewelry, cut and fitted to show off her curvy body to best advantage. She knew how attractive she could make herself, and her gowns were designed to dazzle men. Flapping red and black silk with spider motifs whipped around her legs, her forked tail entwining them back up again and out of her way.   
“Why not? It would be fun! And I love your new jewelry! Can I see it?”  
“You can see it just fine from where you are at,” Maleficent replied.  
“No,” Adrastia laughed, “I want to hold it.”  
“Look with your eyes, not with your hands.”  
A peal of laughter answered her. “Come on, let’s land on one of those balconies, and just let me try it on. I promise I’ll give it back. Besides, when have I ever broken a promise to you? And you’ve got your wings back…”  
“No thanks to you,” the fairy said angrily, veering downward towards the river. When hadn’t Adrastia broken a promise to her? Lies of commission were actually infrequent, but it was the ones of omission that were her specialty. And so Maleficent knew quite well that if Adrastia succeeded in grabbing her belt, she would vanish immediately, and the jewels would never be seen again; at least until Adrastia needed another favor.  
“But I tried,” Adrastia said emphatically. “How I did try! I searched nightly, but I couldn’t find them…”  
“They were in a glass box on display,” the fairy answered, flying downward towards the water.  
“But I was killing the king and queen for you!” she insisted, “Just like you asked me to! Leigh fell right over. Only a few dreams of parties in the Abyss and she just died, but he was so resistant…” She stopped talking and veered upwards, not wanting to follow the fairy any closer to the river. She flapped her bat-like wings, and watched as Maleficent hovered in the mist above the waterfall where the enormous spring emerged from the ancient rocks, and formed the river down below. “Oh, come out of there!” Adrastia called. “You know I don’t like water!”  
The fairy shook her head no, and stayed where she was, using the mist as a protective barrier into which the she-devil wouldn’t go. The moisture was settling into her dress and covering her hair and skin. Perhaps, she thought, when she was so wet that her wings were almost too saturated to fly, she would give Adrastia a nice big hug, and if they fell into the river, so much the better. So mere dreams of the parties that Adrastia had tried to convince Maleficent to attend had been enough to kill Leigh, Aurora’s mother, whom she actually hadn’t asked Adrastia to kill? She’d asked her to kill Stephan, not Leigh, and certainly not to sleep with him for several years! She was angry, but there was also the sense of deep betrayal; Adrastia had known full well that the fairy wouldn’t have survived a trip to the Abyss, the same way she had always known that the drugs and poisons would make her sick. Any magic she had taught herself while under the influence of the tidbits from the Abyss or the Element of Fire had been purely coincidental. Diaval had been correct; she wasn’t a friend, she’d been trying to kill her and steal from the beginning. And it wasn’t just physical things like jewels that Adrastia really wanted. What she truly coveted was the fairy’s pretty face and gracefulness, things which couldn’t ever be stolen, only destroyed. Where was the raven, anyway, she wondered. Probably sleeping or being fed treats by the Princess Aurora or Prince Phillip, both of whom were quite fond of him. The contrast between real friends and the lying devil arguing with her couldn’t have been more clear than it was at that moment.   
“Come out of there! I’ve got something exciting to share with you! There is a city beneath the earth, deep down below even the mines of the dwarves, where the Dark Elves dwell, worshipping their spider goddess. It’s wonderful, you should come with me! They worship me as a priestess, and they’d like you, too! But first, you should show me your new residence, Maleficent! I don’t believe that you’re just visiting some lowly humans! Besides, didn’t your mother, Queen Clecie live here? Some of this is yours, and if you haven’t claimed it yet you certainly should! They owe you gold and property, even if no one has told you that yet. I’ll help you if you want, but first I want to see the inside of the palace…”  
So Adrastia had heard those stories, but not shared them with her. This creature’s treachery knew no bounds, she thought. “You are a true devil,” she said, “You knew all about that, and you never told me.”  
“Told you what?” Adrastia snapped in exasperation. “Don’t use my title to disparage me, either! You’re supposed to keep connected to your family, not me…”  
The answer was a gust of water-saturated wind from the fairy’s wings, droplets of which landed on the she-devil, causing tiny pin prick wounds. Adrastia shrieked in fear and agony, cursing the fairy in a horrible voice, all her assumed friendliness vanishing immediately. Her transforming disguise fell away as well, and instead of appearing charming, graceful and pretty, her facial features reverted to their natural state, and she became gruesomely ugly. The fairy had only once seen her like that before, and shuddered at the horribleness, which shamed and infuriated the devil, “Curse you, Maleficent! Curse you and your waterlogged wings! May you lose them again and have to walk around on two broken ankles! And I’ll be there to laugh at you while you beg me to remove my curse!”  
“How charming,” Maleficent answered, “And I curse you to revert to this form any time you tell lies.”  
“You’re the worst friend ever!” Adrastia screamed. “I do not tell lies! If you don’t apologize and give me that belt I’ll make you give it to me!”  
“No, Adrastia! Now go away, and never return!” To add emphasis to her words, she blasted the she-devil with another water saturated wind gust, which resulted in more screaming. Then suddenly Lilith appeared beside Adrastia, who howled that the wicked, evil fairy who had previously stolen her handsome boyfriend and abandoned him in the Outer Planes had now attacked her and taken her magic belt and now wouldn’t give it back. “Lies, lies, lies!” the fairy exclaimed, “You’re doing it now! Telling more lies!” Her words fell on deaf ears, however.  
“She’s accusing me of lying,” Adrastia wailed, “When she stole my belt!”  
As Lilith stared balefully at Maleficent, she saw the elder earth and fire fairy from antiquity coveting the treasure for herself, and seeing a massive fireball forming in her hands, dove down into the river itself. Swimming wasn’t something she enjoyed, her wings quickly became saturated and started to pull her under, but it afforded more protection than anything else possibly could. The water would instantly nullify their magic, the fireball turning into steam and noise as it hit the river’s surface, and they would be extremely loath to try to fish her out. Adrastia was shrieking horribly, and telling her mother more lies about how Maleficent had stolen her treasure, which of course caused her magical disguise of beauty to fall away again. Angered by more flagrant lying, Maleficent sent a waterspout up at them and heard the shrieking as the water touched them.  
Their battle did not go unheeded, and the castle men at arms hadn’t shot at Maleficent because they had been given orders not to. They had held their fire at the unknown red-haired devil woman flying with her, unsure of whether this new creature was supposed to be there or not. Once Lilith had appeared, and the captain of the guard was certain that these intruders were unwelcome, he decided to give the order to shoot. Between the rain of arrows from behind and spray of water from below, Lilith decided to retreat. Grabbing her wailing daughter, she vanished.   
Maleficent watched them go, but knew full well that Adrastia would return again sometime, pretending this hadn’t happened, begging a favor, and now, she would be trying to steal the beautiful belt, instead of just trying swipe more of Fairyland’s treasures. But Adrastia hadn’t ever been known for fighting fair, she would choose another time and place, one where there was no water the fairy could use to protect herself, and then both Adrastia and Lilith would attack her. She swam to the edge of the river, and accepted the outstretched hand of a soldier who had witnessed the aerial battle. Pulled out of the water, she was soaking wet, but far preferred that to the immolation which would have occurred had the river not been there. Drying off her wings, and wringing out her hair, she realized that learning some water based protective spells would be an extremely wise investment of her time.   
Before she had finished shaking the water off, several more soldiers, the captain of the guard, and the king came running. Awakened in the middle of the night, the king was wearing his favorite grey elven cloak over his black and gold pinstriped pajamas. The disguising cloak worked so well she almost didn’t see him until she heard the captain describing the events from his perspective to the king, who inquired of her if she was injured, and what he could do to help. “I’m fine,” she answered, “Just very wet.”  
“Sire,” the captain insisted, “She was being attacked by flying demons with fireballs! My men and I saw the entire event.”  
“What were those creatures?” the king asked.  
“She-devils,” the fairy answered, “And they are weakened by water, which is why I dove into the river.” She decided not to be too specific, as thinking or speaking their names introduced the danger of accidentally summoning them. Diaval, Aurora and Snow White joined them moments after, worried because they had heard a rumor about flying devils in the sky, and that Maleficent had drowned.   
“I’m so glad to see you’re alive!” Snow White exclaimed. The raven perched on Aurora’s shoulder, and they were both looking at her with troubled expressions.  
“I’m fine, truly,” Maleficent protested, “I’m just wet. But,” she said to the captain and the king, “If you should ever see them again, try to shoot them down into the water, it is the only thing they truly fear.” And they would return, of that she was certain. In the meantime, she smiled to herself, Adrastia would turn into the equivalent of a hideous beast any time she told a lie, which would be more or less constantly. That was almost worth the curse the she-devil had laid upon her, to lose her wings again and half to walk on two broken ankles and beg while Adrastia laughed at her. Hopefully not, she thought, as she walked back into the palace with Snow White and Aurora.


	9. Love's Bliss, Baby's Breath, and the Witch's Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a reason why Maleficent seems to have so much loneliness and bad luck in her life, and it all goes back to a broken oath by her mother. While Aurora discovers the joys of palace life, her fairy friend learns disturbing truths about her own past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this is backstory, about Maleficent's mother Queen Clecie, and how she came to be queen and how she fell in love with Snow White's father, and became her stepmother.

Chapter 9  
Love’s Bliss, Baby’s Breath, and the Witch’s Promise

Maleficent spent most of her time in the secret magic chamber, especially when Aurora was with Phillip. She also continued to read the diary, and ask the magic mirror for clarification on many issues, including the best defense spells against devils. As she suspected, they were water based. The fairy was also disappointed to discover that while devils were harmed by water, fire and earth fairies were not. It was the rain of arrows that had discouraged Lilith, more than the nuisance of the spray, which had only doused her magic spells, not physically harmed her, the way it had Adrastia.  
Maleficent thought carefully before asking the magic mirror for details about Snow White’s foundling story. She still did not fully trust the mirror. It exhibited a remarkable amount of intelligence, and from that she could deduce that it might have its own agenda. What its goals and desires might be, she had no idea, but she decided to be cautious, and rely more upon the written diaries than the scenes in the magic mirror. It was very old, and from the Undying Lands, where things were forever green, which should have made it a priceless Elven treasure. It had also lain for ages in a dragon’s hoard, and such creatures were notorious for their evil emanations and atmospheres. She was almost certain she heard it chuckle at least once, a low, rumbling sound, like one of the Great Wyrms playing with something. She wasn’t sure, but occasionally she felt like something was watching her through the mirror, especially when she wasn’t looking, and she didn’t like that feeling at all. So she was careful what she asked the mirror, and what of its stories she believed. The one thing it said that she believed without question however, was when it told her that she was very beautiful. That much was obvious, she thought, as she admired herself and the wonderful jeweled gift.  
After careful questioning, she learned that many of her mother’s personal notes had been written as recipes, and put in books on perfumery. So Maleficent started carefully reading through the many, many tomes on perfumes, nostrums, tonics and potions. She opened the bottle labeled “Magic Sunset,” on the shelf, and cautiously took a sniff. Instantly she saw the colors of an autumn moon rising, as seen from the bedroom window, while the red-gold colors of the sunset mingled with the robin’s egg blues and streaks of multi-hued purples. The spires of distant castles and palaces formed a fascinating contrast to the colors in the sky. It was an exquisite sense, to see something through smelling it, and she suddenly realized how the magic was coded. Senses, experiences, and so many of the seemingly missing journal entries, were bottled and kept as potions, to be savored many times over and again in the future. Anybody might read a simple journal entry, but not just anyone would know what potions to sniff to uncover a specific memory. “Clever!” Maleficent exclaimed with a laugh. “I have learned something new today!” The raven cawed a loud warning, and she looked over at him. “Of course I would not just wildly sniff through all the bottles!” she said. “I know she kept dangerous potions there!” The bird made some clucking sounds, and she said, “You sound like a mother hen!” A loud caw was an answer, and he flew away, to go tell Aurora that she had started drinking poisons. “Finally!” she exclaimed. There was something she had wanted to ask the mirror without the bird around. “Mirror,” she asked, “Is there a written explanation or a potion containing the essence of why she left me in the gardens? Did she leave anything?”  
“What you seek has been hidden deep, that in the worst of events, her beloved husband, King Edward might never find it,” the mirror answered. “But take if you will the potions in order, Love’s Bliss, Baby’s Breath, and finally, Witch’s Promise, if you would have your answer.”  
She would have her answer. So she found the potions so labeled in the cabinets, and lined them up. First she opened Love’s Bliss, and sniffed cautiously, smelling wonderful gardens and a whiff of masculine air. Then, the faint aromas of food; something sizzling in olive oil, and then the scent of sweet pipeweed grew and became overpowering. Hearty ale and a deep, dark brew, with the woody smells of incense. It was strong, and she paused a moment, then took a hesitant sip of Love’s Bliss, and was immediately transported in her mind back to the forests, when beautiful Clecie, the darling golden haired and winged princess of fairies, lived in her treehouse deep in the sylvan forest, playing with the other fairies by day, and learning magic from the elves and tree spirits in the evenings, when her parents wandered the far reaches of their land, inspecting it for changes. The sylphs and nymphs tried to coax her into joining their games and dances, but she had lost interest. She was tired of them, bored of her life, and wanted love and adventure. Left on her own one evening Clecie found a group of human men riding past the borders of their lands. One of them was entrancing to her; with his handsome face and dark ebony hair. He rode his horse through the forest with his companions, admiring the beauty in the woods around him. He agreed as his friends convinced him that they were hunting in a unicorn’s forest, and that they would find no game to hunt. She watched in fascination, that brown eyed, dark-haired, handsome man who mesmerized her, as he laughed and joked with his friends, and his guide bid the unicorn farewell. Little did they know that they had also said goodbye to a very lonely fairy lady. They rode away in the dim light, but she could not forget. She flew unseen at night, like a dark moonbeam, to the palace of the humans, and saw him there in his bed. He was a king! She floated in as if a cloud, and as a dream, came to him in his sleep, all roses and oranges, with a hint of violets, and woody amber, enveloped in mist. She made him dream of her, and how wonderful it would be to hold her, because that is what she dreamt of him. And dream of her, he did! And she fantasized about him, and his deep, sweet smell of irresistible forest and moss, accompanying salty sweat and old wooden furniture. There in the Dreamworld, in a twilight land lit with Venus overhead, they knew and loved each other, and so she built a longing in between them, that had no resolution in the physical world. All he thought about was the beautiful, sensual dreams, and so no real girl could interest him. For her part, Clecie could meet with him in the Dreamworld, and let him gaze into her beautiful green eyes, but in the waking world she was supervised by her parents and other fairies. Unrequited love was a fierce, burning pain like no other, that consumed her thoughts and eventually she could bear it no longer. She slipped away one day to visit the fierce old witch, Baba Yaga, in search of a way to become human, and give the king whom she desired so much a love potion. The terrifying old witch made Clecie a bargain; in return for becoming human in appearance, and getting the king to fall in love with her, she would have to give the witch her wings, antennae, third eye, and her firstborn child. Clecie hesitated, but the witch was firm on her price. Wavering, the fairy princess agreed. With a wicked cackle, the witch fetched her silver axe. The forest wilted under Clecie’s screams as the witch amputated her wings and sensitive butterfly antennae. Then, the glowing golden-blue third eye was gouged out, blinding the fairy forever to the extra sense she hadn’t ever been without before, a red, sliver-shaped scar left behind. She stood up slowly, looking around with only a human’s gaze, the Unseen veiled, and unsensed; the antennae gone as well. She groped around like a blind creature, learning to move through only two dimensions and able to perceive only the physical realm, the faerie glow lost. It was disorienting not to see creatures’ auras and the rivers of energy, and she screamed anew in horror when she realized what she had given up, and that this was all that humans ever perceived. Nothing sparkled or was aflame with spirit-fire, everything around her appeared dead. But when she looked in the mirror, she appeared as a beautiful human girl. Then the witch handed her a bouquet of enchanted flowers, saying that when she saw the king she should give them to him, and he would be smitten with her from that moment forward and make her his wife. Still smarting from her cuts, but about to achieve her dream, she ran off through the woods until she came to the human city. Many men tried to turn her eye, but she knew what she wanted, and waited outside the castle for the king to emerge. When he finally rode forth that day with his friends, she stepped out and gave him the bouquet. As he touched it, his eyes beheld nothing but her, and he recognized her as the wonderfully beautiful and enchanting maiden from his dreams. So he canceled his hunting trip for the day to spend it enjoying the pleasure of her company. Clecie was never so happy, and both fairyland and the witch’s promise were lost in the glittery, glorious romance that ensued. She loved him so much, and the day they wed was the most magical and wonderful thing she could ever have imagined. On their wedding night, when he took her in his arms and told her that he loved her forever, she swooned in delight, and drank in his scent with his every heavy tobacco and ale-laden breath, that she might remember it forever. The flowers in her hair and on her body wilted under the salty sweat and body pressure, but she had what she wanted most, and that was him. Her wings gone, her head aching from the mead she drank and the removal of her third eye and butterfly antennae; she relished even the pain. It was a good sort of pain, an ache that promised pleasure in the future once mastered. Muscles she had never used before were straining, and oh, the butterfly flutters she discovered in his arms!  
The vision faded, and Maleficent looked askance at the mirror. “I did not ask to see my own conception.”  
“The memories recorded therein are hers,” the mirror answered with a slight chuckle. “Perhaps the next potions will give you the answers you seek.”  
Picking up the second vial, she shuddered and said, “As long as my parents keep their clothes on, it can’t be worse than the last.”  
“The amount of potion ingested determines the intensity of the experience,” the mirror answered.  
“Now you tell me,” she said, taking a faint sniff of Baby’s Breath and looking askance at the mirror. Ethereal sweetness, with notes of tiny, rare flowers that only bloom briefly in the spring, and then vanish, along with a deep, earthy smell of wet dirt, muddy red clay, and a faint, coppery note of blood. Immediately she was in the bedchamber, watching a beautiful scene. Clecie was holding a tiny bundle, looking sadly at the little cooing creature in her arms. “Pretty baby,” she said softly, gazing into the baby’s brilliant green eyes, “So lovely! Such a pity it is that the witch will get to raise you! But I suppose that is for the best. However would I explain your wings, little dark fairy? Or the horns that will grow from your pretty head? Oh, why must you have the blood of the fey so very strong within you? Would that you even seemed human, or were a butterfly baby, I could keep you here!” But, the dark fairies were the strongest, as Clecie well knew, and her newborn was a dark fairy, from her nascent horn nubs to her as yet unfolded little wings, which meant that she was also partly of the element of air. This tiny infant had within her enormous power, and would be the equivalent of a wizard someday. She cuddled the baby, and kissed her tiny forehead, inhaling her newborn scent, so that she could remake it, and remember it always. The vision faded, and Maleficent said, “Mirror, I would have wanted less of the first potion and much more of the second. Please warn me of any parental nudity, and guide me towards knowledge of my own life history.”  
“Very well,” the mirror answered, seeming slightly amused. “Mark well the third potion. It is an elixir of both knowledge and wisdom, for in it lies both the past and the future.”  
She detected a slight edge of dark humor to its voice, and wondered if it was laughing at her. “Hmmm…” she said, eyeing the potion marked, Witch’s Promise, and sniffed it. Heavy smoke and musty rot, combined with the thick, oily cooking smells of an old, dirty kitchen. Curls of tobacco and a bitter note of opium, over sweaty velvet and then the rotting scent of death. It was unmistakable, and heavy, sinking and lingering. Hesitantly, she took a tiny sip. In a sharp burst of burnt umber and incense, she saw a scene of midnight escape, and Clecie slipped unseen out of the castle at nightfall, accompanied only by her pet raven, and taking the path of least resistance, appeared at the door of a truly frightening little hut; the one the witch who had severed her wings lived in. It was on the third day of the infant’s life, she had returned to hand her over to the witch. “Baba Yaga, I have come, as I promised,” she said, looking around the filthy cottage, and noticing the bones in the cages overhead, and the toads staring at her inquisitively.  
“Aaaahh, goody!” the witch cackled, rubbing her bony, greasy hands together. Her nails were filthy, her hair matted and encrusted with scattered, gross bits of debris, “The baby! So is it a boy or a girl?”  
Her poor child! Clecie clasped her newborn tighter, and held her protectively. Could she really give her infant daughter to the Old Wild Hag? “The child is a girl, a beautiful, precious, dark fairy baby girl with eyes of green, raven hair, tiny ruby lips and breath of honeysuckle, and nascent little wings that will one day take her to the skies. Her name is Maleficent.”  
“Yes, yes, yes…” the old witch cackled eagerly, putting a new, smaller cauldron on the fire.  
“She’s very quiet and aware, and likes to observe. She knows I am talking about her.”  
“Yes, yes, very nice…” the witch agreed, setting out a cutting board and a small silver hatchet.  
“She takes very much after me,” Clecie said softly, gazing down longingly at the infant. “She is definitely a fairy!” She touched the infant’s cheek, and as their eyes met, she said, “A beautiful dark fairy baby! Already I can feel power emanating from her! And to look into her eyes is to love her, as I already do.”  
“Oh, good, good!” the witch agreed heartily, hopping from one foot to the other, drooling, and quivering with anticipation.  
“She will have magnificent wings someday, and she will be very beautiful!” Clecie spoke, “She loves it when I sing to her, and she already tries to talk to me. I can see in her eyes that she wants to communicate.” She sighed, and looked away from her beloved infant daughter to the witch, who was looking eager.  
“Is she milk-fed?” the witch asked, shaking with glee and rubbing her hands together in anticipation.  
“Yes, I fed her just before we left the castle.” She sighed and gazed down at the child in her arms. “Take good care of her! I would want to feed her just once more, before I leave.”  
“Yes, yes!” the witch said enthusiastically, as she stoked the fire, “Milk-fed fairy babies taste the very best!”  
“What!” the queen exclaimed in shock, “What did you say?”  
“I said milk-fed babies taste the best! And that delectable little dark fairy baby will be a tasty treat indeed!”  
“Oh, no, no, no! No! You can’t eat her!” the queen screamed in horror. The baby, sensing something greatly amiss, began to cry with her.  
“We made a deal,” the witch reminded her. “You traded me your wings, third eye, those butterfly antennae, and your firstborn child in exchange for looking like a human and the love of the man you wanted. Now you’re queen, and you’re married to your handsome king. I’m going to get what I want, which is to eat that tasty little morsel! Now give me the rest of my payment!”  
“She is not for eating!” the queen wept. “Oh, no, no! Not my precious child!”  
“You have no power to break your oath,” the witch reminded her, eyeing the wailing baby. “The most powerful of curses fall upon oathbreakers! You and your child will lead a cursed existence, miserable half-lives of wretched unhappiness and bad luck! Everything you love will die and what you cherish turn to ashes.” The queen knew that, and became even more distressed. Breaking her vow to the witch cursed not only her but her child as well with ill-fortune and misery. Whatever could go wrong would go wrong for them. But what luck could be worse than being eaten by the witch? Her pet raven cawed, and the queen took the suggestion.  
“Let me feed and hold her just once more,” the queen wept and begged, realizing what the boiling cauldron and silver hatchet were for. The witch grumbled, but didn’t object. Instead, she sat down and lit her pipe, her greasy old lips puffing on the worn, filthy wood. Tendrils of thick, acrid smoke that stung the nose drifted across the cottage. The queen calmed herself and sat down, and held the crying baby to her breast, singing to her. She rocked, and sang a fairy lullaby while the little baby nursed. Her voice was soft and clear, rising and falling softly like a spring rainfall. She sang so sweetly, and so long, that the witch fell asleep, her pipe in her lap, snoring loudly. Taking her opportunity, the queen ran out the door, not slowing down until she was out of the woods. Then she began to cry, wondering what on earth she was to do. She didn’t want her husband to see the baby, or he would know that something was amiss, so she couldn’t simply go back to the castle. Besides, what if the witch appeared and told King Edward her side of the story? She wailed in anguish, and pulled at her hair, waking the baby, who did not like this sort of noise at all, and started to cry a sharp, distressed newborn cry. Not knowing what else to do in her panic and necessity, she smothered the baby, holding her gown wadded up over the baby’s face, pressing over the mouth and nose, silencing the crying, and pressed down until the sound stopped and the tiny dark fairy baby lay still. Her pet raven cawed loudly, and took to the sky. Horrified and distraught at what she had just done, Clecie screamed, and then wept and wrapped the baby up in her little blanket, and left her in the orchard, on the gardener’s pile of lawn debris, covered by some early spring flowers and fragrant, pink branches of apple blossoms. If the witch found her now, Clecie thought, at least she was already dead. It was a small mercy, indeed, she thought. Sadly, she made her way back to the castle as the first rays of morning were shining over the mountains. Her body and spirit felt raw and bloody as she staggered in a haunted half sleep back down the garden path. At the time she most wanted and needed to be alone, who should come along, skipping and singing the same meaningless phrase over and over again annoyingly, but that stupid little Snow White. “Good morning, Stepmother,” she proclaimed, in a bright sunny tone with a trained, princess smile and a little curtsy. Barely controlling her urge to beat the irritating simpleton to death, she glared at her and kept walking. Snow White slunk to the side of the path as she passed, and cringed in fear. She indulged in a single kick, and hated Snow White more than ever.  
The vision faded, with the lingering scent of a fresh morning, and Maleficent was quiet. So Snow White’s story had been correct. She sat down and thought about everything she had just seen. “I’m cursed,” she said softly.  
“Yes, my lady. When your mother broke her vow to the witch, both of you were cursed as oathbreakers.”  
“Is there no way to break the curse?”  
“To break the curse, the oath must be fulfilled.”  
Maleficent was quiet, thinking about what she had just learned, and pondering what she might do. So her years of unhappiness, ill-luck and the disasters that befell her were not random. They were the result of the broken oath. But there was no way to fulfill the oath, she thought. What was done had already been done, and Clecie had already gone to her grave. Sadly, she wondered if she was supposed to never have lived. Her thoughts were disorganized and painful, as she reflected upon everything she had seen. Even cursed, why had Clecie smothered her? Snow White was indeed a simpleton, but she was at a loss to see how Clecie was any better. Surely there must have been alternatives! Would Edward’s reaction have been that bad? If the love spell was still in effect, wouldn’t he just accept what was? Why not take the baby to the dairy woman herself? Why? Why?  
“Maleficent?”  
Surprised out of her deep thoughts, she turned to see Aurora, standing there in the doorway, looking concerned. “Snow White said that you would be here again, but she’s afraid to come in.” Then she said, “And Diaval told me that you were drinking poisons. I understand that you want to learn all you can about your mother, but we’re all worried about you.” Aurora came in and took her hand. “How long since you’ve eaten anything?”  
“I will eat later.”  
Aurora looked into the fairy’s eyes and saw a strange, reddish tinge. Had she been crying, or not sleeping, or was it something else? “You have been in here for a full day straight. This place is much more dangerous than it looks. Have you slept?”  
Maleficent broke away from her gaze. “I don’t need to sleep. I want knowledge more than rest. Everything she left here is fascinating to me. The time just slips away when I’m reading.”  
Aurora immediately became worried; very worried. Fairies had very different constitutions than humans, and went insane much faster, just as they became easily offended and upset much quicker. She sensed that perhaps some quiet by the woods or riverside would be beneficial, without any agonized old memories of times and places gone wrong before. The facts spoke volumes in silence, whether Maleficent wanted them to or not. She looked deeply saddened, and as Aurora had predicted, knowledge was not bringing her any happiness, just something like madness. And Aurora didn’t like Clecie at all, anyway. She thought the second queen, Maleficent’s mother and poor simple Snow White’s stepmother, had indeed been evil. She took delight in beating her stepdaughter and abandoned her own child, after deceiving their father into loving her. Always one to make the best of things, Aurora’s opinion on Clecie was that the best part of her was her beauty, and they had that in the wedding portrait downstairs. Anything more was too much. Aurora said it as kindly as she could, touching the fairy gently on the shoulder, “Maybe you shouldn’t get so attached to the woman who abandoned you, not just once but twice.”  
The fairy’s eyes narrowed, “You don’t know anything about her but what evil gossip that fool Snow White has spread.”  
Aurora hesitated, and then noticed the bottles on the table. Diaval had told her that his mistress was drinking poisons in the secret room. “You’re not drinking potions you’re finding in here, are you? Maleficent, some of these are certainly poisons!”  
“She was a master potion maker,” Maleficent said. “Memories are brewed into liquids, with exquisite scents, and a sip takes me back to events of long ago.”  
“I’m not sure that’s a good thing,” Aurora said, wondering what dark spells had been set into motion. She didn’t understand potions or magic very well, but she did know that an argument would be pointless. She noticed the image displayed in the mirror, the beautiful blond fairy, flying around on her feathered, golden wings. Aurora admitted that the image was enchanting.  
“She gave it all up, for him,” Maleficent said softly. Then she said to the mirror, “Show us the scene where they first meet.” The mirror displayed the moment where Clecie handed her beloved the magic bouquet that bewitched him, and made him fall in love with her. She wondered why Clecie had then developed such a fondness for dark gowns, and frequently covered her beautiful blond hair with a black headdress. Even if she had to hide the scars from the amputation of her antennae and the removal of her third eye, why had she decided to bind her hair?  
Aurora detected a note of bitterness in her dear friend’s voice, and said, “She’s lovely as a fairy, and as a girl.” Then she added, “It’s not healthy for fairies to be confined behind walls for very long. Come with me, outside…”  
“I do not like their stares and reaching hands.” She was regretting letting Aurora and the bird know the password to the magic door seal. “If you want to go outside so badly, why don’t you just go with the prince?” Her tone came out much sharper than she had intended, and she surprised herself, as well as the princess, who took a step back in shock.  
“Then take off the belt,” Aurora said gently, taking Maleficent’s hand, and trying to ignore the strange redness in her eyes and nasty tone of her voice. “There’s something unwholesome about it that makes people try to go after it.”  
“No!” she snapped back. “It’s mine! I won’t let them have it!”  
“All right,” Aurora said kindly, rather surprised by the vehemence of the response and the suspicion in the fairy’s eyes. Surely Maleficent couldn’t think that she wanted to steal it? Something was clearly wrong, although whether it was drinking potions, talking to the magic mirror, or the effects of the dwarves’ gift, or all three congealing together in a mix of insanity, she didn’t know. But she was becoming very worried that Maleficent was losing her mind, and Aurora’s only answer was fresh air and sunshine. She looked over at the raven, who cawed to her that he was concerned as well. “Come outside with me, just for a little while, and eat something, maybe some wild berries?” The fairy looked at her suspiciously, a weird, reddish light in her eyes, and was about to say something unkind, when the raven nudged her, and Aurora simply took her hand, and led her out of the magic chamber. “Look,” she said as brightly as possible, “Its morning! You’ve been in there all day and night! Let’s go on a quick walk!” She pulled the reluctant fairy along with her, and as they wandered through the gardens, Aurora tried to interest her in the plants and local animals. It was late summer, moving into autumn, and so there were early apples on the trees, and plump berries growing in the brush underneath. The birds were twittering and the air was scented with the morning dew and first opening of new blossoms. Aurora thought it was as beautiful as any place created by humans could ever be, and with the raven weighing down a branch, picked two beautiful, golden apples. “Here,” she said, handing one to Maleficent, and distracting her from her dark thoughts, “For you. Apples, the stuff of myth, discord, knowledge, and immortality.” She held it out with a smile, hoping for a response from the fairy.  
“Yes, thank you,” she answered absent-mindedly, looking around the orchard. Which path led to the dairy? Was the gardener’s debris pile still here somewhere, after all those years?  
Aurora took a bite of her apple, and it was sweet and crisp, with a bit of tartness, since it hadn’t sat too long on the tree. She looked over at Maleficent, who was staring out over the pastures and into the herb gardens, slinking out of the direct path of sunlight whenever she could. “Try it,” she encouraged. “These apples are delicious, and you need to eat something.”  
“Perhaps,” she agreed vaguely, still staring at the gardens. Eating an apple seemed like an enormous amount of effort, and she wanted to think and rest. Her eyes hurt in the light, and felt like they were burning. Sleeping then sounded much better than eating.  
Aurora felt a moment of frustration, and watching the birds help themselves to the fruit at the top of the tree, she picked some fragrant white blossoms, and set one behind Maleficent’s ear, and told her that she was very beautiful, and how they could make daisy chains, and play in the gardens, like they would have at home in Fairyland. She loved some of the flowers here, and decided that she wanted to take some rose cuttings home with them. The two magnificent rosebushes that grew on either side of the main entrance had the most heavenly scent she had ever smelled, and they were certainly enormous and healthy enough to not miss a slip or two!  
“It will be wonderful when we go home again,” Aurora said, “I’m going to plant some of those heavenly smelling roses outside of my castle and in the Moors, so we can enjoy them wherever we are. We can play games, too. I’ve been having so much fun…” She stopped and sighed, noticing the fairy staring off into the distance. Indeed, Aurora had been having the time of her life, singing and dancing in the great halls, enjoying delicious meals, and learning lots of new games and things. She enjoyed playing T&T with her fiancé and his friend, but she thought they had even more fun when they all started drinking and playing cards where the loser had to take off an article of clothing. But this didn’t seem like a very good time to tell Maleficent about that, or about how she and Phillip were trying to coax Leonard out of his all-male perspective with their three-way private parties. They were also experimenting with some of the other young people, and discovering what they liked, and what they wanted. Aurora had just discovered that she loved touches, and especially the lingering, sensuous caresses of other women. It was a time of awakening, learning, and fantasy. Many times she touched brunette beauties and wished that it was really her beloved fairy friend that she was delighting with her breath, lips, and fingertips as she ran her hands over luscious breasts and through thick, dark hair. No, those stories would have to wait, as she suspected, was any more fun. She was going to have to start watching Maleficent more closely; especially after what Diaval had said about her drinking poisons.  
Maleficent feigned interest in the things Aurora was chattering about, and ate a few little berries to please her, but she was just waiting for a chance to return to the magic chamber. Aurora knew it, and wondered what else she could possibly do. She was worried, and not just about magic, but about her friend’s sanity and physical safety. Maleficent was oblivious to the things people were saying about her, which were not kind, and the only thing Aurora thought would really solve the problem would be to send Maleficent home, before something happened, and she had a terrible feeling that it wouldn’t be very long before disaster struck. Looking at the beautiful jeweled belt, as everyone they passed did as well, she was filled with not greed or envy but worry and dread. Someone would try to take it, she realized, and soon. Perhaps, she despaired, the hidden chamber was the safest place for her until they returned home. The dwarves in particular made Aurora worry. There was no friendship between elves and dwarves to begin with, and especially not fairies. They had given Maleficent the wonderful gift, and clearly regretted it. Nor, Aurora had observed, was Maleficent any nicer to them because of it. If anything, they eyed each other suspiciously and slunk around more than ever. Why, oh why, Aurora wondered, was it such an issue? Why didn’t the dwarves just forget about it, or make another one?


	10. The Plotting Dwarves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seven Dwarves plot to regain their treasure, and there's a reason why Bashful doesn't often talk; he's thinking very nasty things!

Chapter 10  
The Plotting Dwarves

But the dwarves could not forget the beautiful jewelry. They schemed upon how it could be theirs once more. They no longer saw the fairy as simply an enemy, or even a person, but primarily as an obstacle to the acquiring of their one true desire; reclaiming the treasure. When one night they were discussing King Stephan’s mistakes, they hit upon a gem of an idea; the iron net.   
“Why,” Doc said, “Without the dragon, that net would have done the job!”  
“She turns that bird into other critters,” Grumpy pointed out. “Use the net, keep the bird out of her sight, so she can’t turn it into a dragon.”  
“Keep us out of her sight!” Doc added. “If she can’t see us, she can’t cast her spells on us.”  
“Time to get my Medusa bangin’ bucket,” Bashful grinned.  
“No,” Happy told him, “We’re not wasting time with that!”  
“Works great on Medusa,” Bashful chuckled. “Put the metal bucket over her head, bang on it a few times with the axe to knock her and them snakes out, then bend her over…”  
“No!” the other dwarves shouted.   
“This one ain’t got no snakes to bite ya. She can’t see, she can’t do nothin’,” Bashful laughed. “Just knock her out with the bangin’ bucket. Everybody takes a turn…”  
“Why do we hang around with him? Everything he suggests is creepy,” Grumpy wondered aloud. “All our other friends don’t like him, and I miss Ocho the Grouch.”  
“We’re not doing that!” Doc informed Bashful. “The goal here is to kill the succubus as quickly as possible and retrieve the treasure, not do her from behind! You’re making the same idiot mistakes King Stephan did! Just kill her!”  
“And if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!” Grumpy growled at Bashful.   
“The goal should be decapitation,” Happy said. “We all take our axes, and off goes her head! We just need something that restrains her…”  
“Heh, heh,” Bashful laughed, “That’s the bangin’ bucket!”  
“No!” the other dwarves told him.  
“Which takes us back to the iron net,” Sneezy added, “Not your nasty Helmet of Medusa Seduction! So just shut up and don’t say anything!”  
“Absolutely,” Happy agreed. “We need to start as quickly as possible. We affix the net over the door to the old Queen’s chamber, and when she’s underneath it, drop it on her. Then we all jump on her with the axes, and take her head off.”  
“Stay behind her,” Doc decided. “One of us will engage the bird, and keep it out of her line of sight. Kill it if you can; and everybody have at least two small throwing axes in addition to your main battle axe. Be sure to stay behind the demoness’ back where she can’t see you, and hack at her through the net. She’s small, so it should go mighty quick. She won’t be expecting it, and all of us together should make short work of her. So all we really need is to go make the net.”  
They knew they could make such a thing very quickly, much faster than any humans, and almost without there being a prior plan, a new plan was set. This plan was to destroy the evil fairy forever, and to reclaim their lost treasure. From what they’d heard, Stephan had wasted his advantage. Instead of killing her swiftly and being done with it, he’d indulged in pointless human vices that only served to cost him the victory. Not that mating wasn’t enjoyable, of course, they laughed, but there was a time and a place for such things, and a dangerous dark fairy was a poor choice indeed! A lusty maid and some hearty ale was much more their idea of an after-battle party! Except for Bashful, and his Helmet of Medusa Seduction, they were much more interested in a victory celebration elsewhere.   
Soon, their trap was in place. They hid the iron net high above the doorway to the evil queen’s old room, where they knew the dark fairy liked to sneak away to, whatever Snow White might tell her not to do. They would be justified, they told themselves, in what they were doing. Rose Red was defying her sister’s order to stay out of the old Wicked Queen’s magic chamber, where she had taken up residence, and was clearly reworking and rediscovering her mother’s evil spells. They were saving Snow White’s life! And everyone would know it once the wicked fairy was caught and stopped, her treachery displayed to the world. Why, after they saved Snow White’s life once again, even that suspicious and doubtful elf-loving king would come around to their way of seeing things! And how proud the Mountain King would be of them, once they had secured the gratitude of King John towards the Dwarves, they assured each other while they worked! Soon to be the most famous of all dwarves, they cheered gleefully over countless pints of pre-victory ale. They felt quite right about what they did, as they then hid behind the furniture and potted plants, waiting for the evil, horned fairy to appear. The girl came and went, first with a bucket and a mop, and then with armloads of flowers, candles, and other items, but they hadn’t seen Maleficent. They planned to be ready when they did.


	11. Beware the Seven Dwarves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Seven Dwarves who killed the former Queen are now plotting to kill Maleficent. She finds her mother's body, lying in the bottom of the ravine under the boulder, and swears revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Very unusual sexy scene involving a dragon. It's not just their breath weapon and claws that you need to be concerned with; sometimes their talking and spells are even more perilous.

Chapter 11  
Beware the Seven Dwarves!

Maleficent preferred to fly alone rather than interact with anyone else, so she came and went through the window in the former queen’s chamber, avoiding the door if at all possible. There were people out there in the hallways, and they looked at her with envy, wanting to steal her precious treasure; the glittering, magical, gold and bejeweled belt. She avoided the dinners, parties, dances, and singing events that Snow White held as well. Returning alone to the secret chamber, while Snow White was regaling Phillip and Aurora with ideas concerning how she was planning their wedding, Maleficent continued her research. Something the horrible dwarves said was bothering her, and so she decided to ask. “Mirror, the dwarves claim to have pushed my mother off a cliff, and that she fell to her death. Is that true?”  
“Yes, my lady. After the poisoning of Snow White, as Clecie attempted to flee, the dwarves caught up with her, and pushed her to her death.”  
“Can you show me where this happened?”  
“Near the cottage by the forest’s edge, where dwelt the Seven Dwarves, after Snow White took a bite of the poisoned apple, and there lay fallen. Clecie had hoped to make her silent departure when Snow White’s animal friends alerted the dwarves that something was amiss. They arrived too late to prevent her from taking a bite from a poisoned apple and the sleeping death curse from taking effect, but quickly enough to chase the queen. Before she could cast a spell upon them, they used their own powers of earth, to let free part of the mountainside, and ruin was upon her, as she fell to her death in the avalanche. In the bottom reaches of Blackjack Creek, there lie the bones of your mother Queen Clecie, under a landslide of rock and rubble.”  
“Show me an aerial map,” Maleficent asked. The mirror shimmered, and she saw clearly where the icy mountain runoff formed into creeks, and then into rivers, as it made its way down from the rocky heights into the lowlands. At the place where the forest met the meadowlands, there was a deep crevasse where an ancient stream had cut a path through solid rock. At the bottom of the cliffs was where the body lay. “Thank you, mirror,” she said softly. “Is there anything else I should know, before I seek her remains?”  
“Beware the Seven Dwarves. They plan your death as surely as they killed her.”  
“Oh, I knew that,” Maleficent breathed angrily, “Those ill-mannered, bumbling morons!” Their deaths would bring her great pleasure, but she wouldn’t do it, not here in the palace. But if they should bother her while she was seeking her mother’s remains, then she would kill them with impunity. She should destroy them for revenge alone, she realized, even if they were personable, which they were not.  
“My lady…”  
“That will be all, magic mirror,” she said, in a hurry to find her mother’s body in the daylight. There was plenty of time to listen to the mirror’s flattery later. Opening the bedroom window, she flew. Finding the creek was easy, finding the edge of the meadow was also simple. Finding Clecie’s body at the bottom of the ravine was not. Countless landslides and forty years of erosion had made tricky ground. Fallen debris from the forest and what had been swept down the mountainside during torrential rains made it difficult to find the exact spot. She searched all day, and when she was finally about to give up and ask the mirror again for better directions, she saw a bit of jeweled lace twisted up and nearly worn away, wound around some branches. Following the stretched out, nearly broken threads, she saw an immense boulder. Some of the matching lace was buried in the sand and debris beneath the giant stone, and moving some thorn bushes out of her way, there in the dirt and dust she saw the skeletal remains of a hand, surrounded by filthy and threadbare gold and silver lace. “Mother!” she exclaimed, and leaned forward. The stone emitted a burning rebuttal. She stood up, and realized that the entire enormous boulder was flecked through with iron ore. She screamed, a heartrending wail that silenced the forest, and then sat as close as she dared. So this was where her mother had gone; after leaving her in Fairyland, to the cottage of the seven dwarves to poison Snow White, and the dwarves had pushed her off the cliff, crushing her with an immense stone of iron ore. Why, she wondered, oh why? Had her jealous love for her husband been so all-consuming that she abandoned her own child, killed a stepchild, and then finally died for it? And whatever could have been the point of that, after Edward was dead? Sheer vanity? Or the witch’s curse? She sat as close as she could, and wept for hours as the sun set, and the stars began to shine overhead. There was nothing she could do with the stone; it was impervious to all fairy enchantments. Oh, the dwarves had chosen well, and they had done this piece of killing quite adeptly. Clecie’s powers would have been nullified when it rolled near her; and she would have been unable to cast any spells. Powerless, falling, falling… That was all that was left, the panicked sensation of helpless falling… from one who once had wings. She cried afresh in the darkness, weeping for hours as the moon sailed across the sky, until her tears were utterly spent, and she was just weary. The mirror’s words went through her head like a spirit’s whisper, “Beware the Seven Dwarves…” She reached over through the wall of searing heat that emanated towards her from the stone whenever she tried to touch the hand bones, and let her fingers rest briefly upon the brittle bits, fairy fingers roasted to white ash by the iron, which fell into dust at the slight pressure of her fingertips. Her hand was scorched red and black as she pulled it back with a scream. “Oh, Mother!” she wept and swore, “I will avenge you! I will destroy the Seven Dwarves!” Then she stood up and called the elements to her, and stepping back far enough from the stone to perform magic, but close enough so that she fancied Clecie’s spirit could hear, she vowed to the elemental spirits and the heavens, that one day she would avenge her mother’s murder, and the Seven Dwarves would die by her hand. The lightning crackled and the thunder roared, and the wind whipped around her, drying the tears on her face. When the wind slowed, and the magical fire of the vow dispersed into the air, she felt tired, but also renewed. She looked at her hand, still blackish-red, blistered, and painful, but she had needed to do it, and now she had a purpose. About to fly, and return to the castle after the long night, she felt the presence of Clecie’s spirit, and heard quite clearly her mother’s voice, warning her, “Beware the Seven Dwarves!”   
She flew back to the tower, and collapsed in exhaustion, quickly falling asleep. She dreamt that she was in a dark, twisted forest, which was not frightening, but wickedly magical, containing all manner of powerful enchantments and lost, arcane arts. She was on a path, an odd, meandering lavender-toned trail which seemed to lead nowhere, but circled around a lovely meadow which contained but a sole, immense tree. Instead of leaves, the tree had dark green parchments with ancient spells written on them, and occasionally one turned brown and fell to the ground, where the curious fairy could pick it up and try to read it. When she did so, the brittle little scrolls would burn up from the inside out, letting her get only tantalizing glimpses of the arcane and forbidden knowledge contained therein. There were beautiful blossoms of soft pink and bluish purple alongside the path and larger, blush and crimson blossoms out where there sun almost shone in the field of large scarlet flowers that surrounded the enormous tree. Poppies, she thought, looking inside of a bloom, and instead of a black center, she saw a swirling, humming vortex of runes and symbols which hypnotized her, and she heard faraway ringing of chimes. Lying down, she fell asleep, and began to dream within a dream, all of everything becoming a dark night that was pierced only by silvery moonlight. The tree became iridescent in its glowing splendor, and the leaves sparkled like so many glittering jewels above her, and hidden amongst the magical leaves were golden apples. She opened her dream-eyes when she heard something with large wings landing. The wings were loud, and its’ breathing was even louder. The fairy opened her eyes, amazed to see a shimmering, coppery-red dragon standing there beside her, while the sky overhead thundered and webs of spidery lightning spread from one end of the horizon to the other. The dragon had enormous, golden-bronze cat’s eyes, but an amused smile as it sniffed the startled fairy, who was at first terrified but then gradually became curious. If it had wanted to eat her it would have done so while she slept, swooping down and clutching her in its talons; it wouldn’t have landed, and stayed around to listen to the chimes ring. Indeed, it seemed very inquisitive, and quite friendly, as it smiled and winked at her, letting her know that only the very ignorant or truly wicked left beautiful virgins out for dragons to find. She blushed, being no virgin, and realized that it didn’t mean to attack or harm her at all, but had something else in mind entirely. It chuckled warmly to itself, at the very notion that she considered herself anything other than the most innocent of maidens, and put its nose up against her, and inhaled sharply, smelling her. Apparently it liked what it caught the scent of, because it lingered and breathed deeply, rubbing its chin against her like an affectionate cat, and began to purr, her body starting to resonate with its echo. Stunned, the fairy reached out and touched the massive muzzle, starting to pet the creature in hesitant amazement. The dragon was very warm, its scales radiating a pulsating heat to the vibration of its purring and the air crackled around it. The dragon inhaled deeply, enjoying her scent; its long, snakelike tongue testing and tasting her skin. It certainly did like the smell of her, and the taste, the dragon’s tongue licking her upper legs in a delightfully wet and sensual way. She felt a large claw brush her cheek affectionately, and then travel down her body. It was sharp like a sword, and gleamed as though it were burnished copper with a silver tip. It could have sliced her easily, but didn’t, the nail scraping down her body while only leaving the faintest mark. The dragon made a pleased, rumbling noise, and the claw readily parted her legs, enabling the curious tongue to explore further. When she looked down, she realized that she was naked except for the beautiful magic belt, which hung from her waist liked jeweled, ruby red fruits. But the dragon wasn’t very interested in the gold, silver, or blood-red gems, it was far more interested in her, and she felt herself gently picked up, and held aloft in the creature’s hands. Thus, her wings could flutter and flap freely through its scaly fingers and long silver-tipped claws. It blew on her, and instead of terrible flames, there was a light golden mist of tingly pleasure that twinkled all over her body like thousands of butterflies, each of which told her a secret, a thrilling, fluttering rush of forbidden knowledge. But it was the dragon’s tongue that was the key to opening the lock of understanding, to knowing and feeling everything in perfect harmony and equilibrium. So it was that she welcomed the dragon’s tongue for much more than just the physical pleasure it gave her, she hungered for the knowledge it promised. Anything she had ever wanted to know, would ever seek, was being offered to her, serving itself to her in every slow, luscious lick. She trembled and sighed, enjoying the dragon’s moist, gentle affections, and hungering for more. Cradled in its hands, her wings fluttered unimpeded and she placed her feet up alongside the massive jaws, delicately moaning, the burnished coppery scales warming the skin touching them. The dragon purred ever louder, vibrating her to its rhythm, as its tongue curled and cuddled up inside of her, and she felt as though she were melting in waves of pleasure, and every leaf on the great tree above them twinkled with her in delight. The dragon rumbled with soft laughter, and more lightning flashed across the sky, and she felt like she was purring along with the great beast. The tongue, so agile and so exquisite, brought her to her first peak, and the sky thundered, the chimes no longer far away but all through the tree, and the dragon’s claw was stroking her horns, causing her to truly feel at one with it, and asking if she wanted to know more. Now she was no longer a totally innocent maiden, but still a virgin. Did she want to know more? The great beast’s tongue trembled within her and she cried out in ecstasy, pushing against it and wanting more, yes, much more! Yes, she moaned, yes, and she gave herself willingly to the beast, whimpering as its tongue slid out of her. At first the dragon put only the silver tip in, teasing her, letting her enjoy the sensation of being gently pierced. And she did enjoy it, trembling at the incredibly hot sensation of dragon heat, and the wonderful, fantastical wetness that filled her in great boiling floods. The dragon caressed her tenderly with his claws, and lifted her closer, rocking her gently in his scaly hands, bringing her onto the bronze, past the silver tip, and she cried out in ecstasy…


	12. A Truly Beautiful Gesture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent grants Diaval his freedom from her service, and he gains the ability to control his own shape shifting. Meanwhile, Phillip and Aurora wonder if they should get married or call off the wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! This is the adult version, and Maleficent remembers what happened when Stephan and his men captured her after awakening Aurora.

Chapter 12  
A Truly Beautiful Gesture

Snow White had taken charge of the wedding preparations, and all Aurora needed to do was tell her what colors she preferred, choose her flowers, and meet with the dressmaker. Snow White encouraged her to just enjoy herself, at the teas, dinners, luncheons, and dances that were a regular feature of palace life. Queen Snow White, assisted by her new best friends the three wonderful, magical pixies, was doing what she loved most, which was arranging weddings and planning parties. They discussed, assessed, swirled and danced, magic flying out every which way; this would be the best wedding ever! Their little Aurora was getting married! Married! Oh, the joy, they laughed and swirled around Snow White in giddy circles. Music, decorations, preparations for a lavish feast and a great ball afterward; Snow White had sent out invitations to every neighboring kingdom from sea to sea. It was to be a truly grand event, with everyone from far and wide in attendance; from the kings of men to the mayors of the Halfling boroughs all the way up to the ElvenQueen and back down to the Dwarven King Under the Mountain. All Phillip had to do was get dressed on the big day and show up.  
The grandeur of White Castle had quite gone to the pixies’ heads, and they felt that their old names, Knotgrass, Thistlewit and Flittle, were hopelessly rustic and déclassé. It was time for them to move up in the world as well, and so they took the new, and less bumpkin-ish names for themselves of Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather. Gone too were the weeds and rumples upon their foolish heads. Now they delighted in adorning themselves with ruffles and fripperies worthy of an empress.  
“How do you really feel about this wedding?” Aurora asked her betrothed, when they were finally alone after the fittings and fussing of the tailors and Snow White. The pixies input had been truly dizzying. “To be honest, I feel rather rushed and pressured. Would you be upset if I suggested that we just go home to Fairyland and think about it some more?”  
“No offense, dear, but I feel like a fattened lamb being led to slaughter,” Phillip confessed. “The whole thing has that being offered a carrot while there’s something behind the butcher’s back sensation to it.”  
Aurora laughed, she wouldn’t have put it quite that way, but she recognized the feeling. “We don’t have to do it,” she said. “We could just tell them all no.”  
“You could say it,” Phillip said, “But I’m not sure Mother would hear it.”  
“Do you want to get married? I’m not sure I do. It’s not you that worries me, it’s the whole feeling pressured part. If we decided to get married, it should be because we want to, not because your mother wants a reason for a grand event. The sooner we stop this thing the better. What about talking to your father?”  
“That is probably our best and only hope,” Phillip said. “Let’s try that. Also, Leonard has been sulking a lot lately, and Maleficent is hiding in the old queen’s haunted chamber, possibly drinking poisons. This wedding would be ill-timed indeed for our dearest friends. We need to talk to them as well. I knew they would be unhappy with it all, but I didn’t imagine things would get this bad so far before the actual event.”  
Aurora agreed, and said, “I rather like Leonard, and we have so much fun gaming. I thought he liked me.”  
“He does,” Phillip said, “But that doesn’t stop people from becoming jealous. He and I have been together for several years before I ever journeyed to King Stephen’s castle, to inquire about the betrothal. He feels angry and rejected, however nice he might try to be about it. But the worst he can do is throw troops at us in T&T, I’m much more worried about your fairy godmother, who is extremely jealous.” Worried about being transformed into a toad, a dog, or worse, he thought, and she gets upset quickly.  
“I don’t think she’s jealous,” Aurora wondered aloud. “I love her, but I’m not sure that she feels quite that way about me.”  
“You haven’t discussed it with her?” He asked in surprise. Apparently there were unsaid things on the other end that he had assumed.  
“It’s complicated,” she answered. She didn’t want to ruin a wonderful friendship by actually broaching the subject. Maleficent was beautiful, elegant, and Aurora had imagined what they might do many times, what she very much wanted to do. The fairy looked at her with sexy, sultry eyes, and her awakening kiss proved that she loved her. Yet, when Aurora touched her, she moved away, avoiding all physical contact, even when it seemed like what she wanted.  
It was close to evening before they finally caught the king alone. Everyone in the entire kingdom seemed to want his attention, the wizard most of all, and Phillip knew better than to interrupt any private conversations between the king and the sorcerer. “Can I talk to you for a few minutes?” Phillip asked him, Aurora following close behind. She sensed that he might need some encouragement not to just say that everything was fine. Instead, she was glad to hear that the king wanted to talk to them, too. In fact, he had wanted to talk to her, and tell her what he suspected would happen in her kingdom during her absence, and how to remedy it. Aurora realized that there were entire worlds of problems that she hadn’t ever thought about before, and that the king was being kind in his description of the destruction Maleficent had wrought, and that it would take time, lots of time, and money, lots of money, to fix it all. “Where is she, by the way?” the king suddenly asked. “It would be useful for all of us to sit down together and discuss this, as well as another matter that she and the wizard need to attend to.” Only when the king had left did they realize that they never did get around to telling him what they had intended.  
“Well, let’s catch him again at dinner,” Phillip said, “And bring Maleficent. I haven’t seen those dreadful dwarves around lately, so she should be safe.”  
“I’ll tell her, but I’m very worried about her. I think she’s losing her mind.”  
Phillip hesitated and asked, “There’s some sort of secret magic room full of spellbooks and potions, and a magic mirror, isn’t there?”  
“How did you know that?”  
“I foresaw it. That’s why I didn’t want to bring her here. And the horrid dwarves, of course.”  
“I wish you had said something earlier! What do you foresee now?”  
“Nothing good.”  
“Be specific.”  
His face darkened, “Death… fire out of the sky and goblin armies; angels killed by enormous dragons… Something that just doesn’t sit well… That’s why I hoped it wasn’t accurate.” There were even darker dreams that Phillip didn’t share with anyone that upset him too much to talk about, even if he had wanted to.  
“I think you were correct originally with that plan of hoping for the best but planning for the worst. I need to find Maleficent, and all of us need to sit down with your dad.”  
She went up to the old queen’s chamber, and softly speaking the password, so that none might overhear, entered. It was cold inside, because the windows had been left wide open, and the raven greeted her with a caw and a noisy flap. Maleficent was passed out on the bed, her hair in total disarray, mud and twigs on the hem of her dress and on her feet. She hadn’t bothered to prepare for bed, she had just collapsed down on it and slept. With a sigh, Aurora wondered what she had been doing. Whatever it was, she obviously wasn’t ready for dinner and a serious discussion with the king. During the day and night that she and Phillip had spent together talking and preparing for their wedding, Maleficent had been out unearthing something, and working some sort of exhausting magic. Aurora didn’t even have to ask her to know that. Phillip was right, she was losing her mind, and the sooner they returned home, the better. A chill wind blew in, and Aurora shivered. She went over to the windows, and while shutting them, thought she saw the reflection of a beautiful blond woman- the queen. She stopped, and turned around. There didn’t seem to be anyone there, just the fairy sleeping in a curled-up heap, her hair dirty and sweaty, sticking to her forehead and the back of her wings. Aurora turned around again to close the windows, and this time saw the reflection of the beautiful golden haired queen, right behind her, green eyes alight with fairy fire. Aurora startled and spun around, to hear the words, “Beware the Seven Dwarves.” Then with a whispery faint gliding sound, the ghost was gone.  
Shaken, Aurora closed the window, and sat down on the bed next to the sleeping fairy. Had Maleficent been out conjuring her mother’s ghost? She was hard pressed for any other explanation. But what had the queen meant by warning her about the dwarves? She ran her hand over the soft feathers of the fairy’s wings, and pulled some grit-covered strands of hair loose from where they were stuck. Aurora noticed that the fairy’s right hand was severely burned, and wondered how that had happened. She found a little piece of a thorn bush in her wings as well, and picked it out. Gently, she petted her hair, and then gingerly touched the ribbed horn, which made the fairy smile and sigh in her sleep. How odd it is, Aurora thought as she ran her hand over the hard surface, that she should be what she is! Her mother was a different type of fairy, with delicate butterfly antennae, and feathered wings of golden brown, and her father was a human man. So apparently human and fairy crosses were possible, she had one right here. Why then, she wondered, wasn’t she less fey, instead of more? If she had been born with just her mother’s golden wings, would the queen still have abandoned her? Aurora doubted it; such a child could have been called an angel, and a divine blessing. But one with dark wings and horns? No such chance, she knew, touching the horns, and feeling the thrum of power and Maleficent’s heartbeat within. This sort of fairy baby would have been seen as an abomination, a demon, and so the newborn had found her fate. That seemed horribly cruel and unfair to the young princess, as she touched the delicate spots on the fairy’s head where the bony horn protruded through the skin, and where the hair parted. Rubbing gently, and running her hands up and down the fascinating length of them, the horns were indeed part of the fairy’s skull, and not easily removable, so it was no wonder that the queen hadn’t even tried. Chopping or grinding would be the only ways to remove bone, and that would have been a hideous thing to do to a baby. She petted the feathers on her wings, which fluttered slightly at her touch, and admired how smooth the dark outer ones were while the down closest to the skin was warm, fluffy and light. Aurora was still amazed that these wings had reattached! That thought took her back suddenly to the one thing she strove to never think about; what her own father and his men had been doing to the fairy. The abjectly horrifying sight when she had looked down the stairway, and seen what was happening, was seared into her memory forever, just as if it had been branded there with one of the hot irons they had been tormenting Maleficent with. She had never before imagined anything like that, and try though she might, terrible images remained there in her mind, the opposite of everything she wanted to think about, and it poisoned her every time it popped up unexpectedly and unwanted, leaving her disturbed and upset for hours afterward. They had known to cover the fairy’s eyes, and gag her, so that she couldn’t use her magic, and they had strung her up with iron chains. Iron all around, she remembered, and so the fairy was burning from it, her powers nullified. And blood, she remembered, so very much blood. None of them had felt the slightest pity for their suffering captive, and were shouting, cheering, and laughing at her struggles and gagged, muffled screams. For them, the best part was the very personal bodily vengeance they were so obviously enjoying inflicting upon her. There was a side of humanity that Aurora didn’t like very much, and it was that side, the raw pleasure they were indulging in. Aurora hadn’t known before that hurting people could be fun, or about power, and revenge. Horror had gripped her so thoroughly that for a moment she could do nothing but stare, and then had experienced a surge of fury and outrage that was completely foreign to her. Filled with a love-fueled insanity, she rushed fearlessly forward through the throng of mocking, whip and chain wielding, shouting men, who looked to her more like orcs and goblins than human men. She’d rushed through their midst, startling everyone, especially her father, who obviously hadn’t expected to see her. But it was love that had moved her the most, and had given her the courage to quickly wind her own wrist up in the fairy’s chains so that they couldn’t simply throw her off, and that had given Aurora the time to work off the blindfold and gag. But the strangest part, the truly unexpected divine gift, was the surge of light and blessed healing energy that had come with the effort of lifting her fairy friend, chains and all to relieve the awful pressure on her arms, and how it had restored and revived Maleficent enough to cast her spell on Diaval. But not only had she become able to cast the spell, it seemed like many of her wounds and injuries had simply faded away with Aurora’s touch. What had that surge of light and power been, Aurora wondered. She was sure that the fairy had noticed, and wondered what receiving that surge of energy had felt like. Aurora experienced it as a sudden, momentous rising and giving of love and compassion, that arose from her heart, and it had emerged as healing energy. She wondered if she could ever do it again, or if it was some sort of divine blessing, never to be repeated but had happened when she needed it. Maleficent had certainly been adamant that Aurora had to sew the wings back on, no one else could touch her, and that she hadn’t screamed or flinched at her touch, or the needle pricks. Aurora knew that she wouldn’t have been that brave. She would have wept and howled. Aurora smiled, at the thought of how she herself would have behaved, and petted the soft wings again, enjoying the beautiful sleeping fairy’s quiet breathing and soft sighs. Too bad she won’t let me touch her like this while she’s awake, Aurora thought. This and so much more! It would be wonderful to hold the woman she loved so much in her arms, and enjoy the sort of pleasures that she was sharing with others whom she liked, but didn’t feel that deep emotional connection to. She pulled a few more pieces of thorn bush out of the fairy’s hair and wings. There were more stuck in the bottom of her gown. Wherever had she been, and what happened to her hand? Aurora didn’t touch the burnt hand, but she did continue to run her fingers over the horns, and enjoy the silky feel of her hair, and listening to her deep, breathy sighs.  
Maleficent awoke with a start; the dragon, lightning sky, and golden mist gone; only the pulsing heat and wetness between her legs remaining. For a moment, she didn’t recognize anything, and wondered where she was, and who this lovely blond lady touching her was. She gasped, and startling, realized that it was only Aurora, poking at her where the dragon’s claws had been stroking. The princess’ breath was close and sweet, the light pressure of her fingertips warm and tingling, just as arousing as the dragon’s tongue had been.  
“I’m sorry,” Aurora said, realizing that she had rudely awakened her fairy friend. “I was just admiring how very beautiful you are.”  
“Oh…” the fairy answered, blushing and trying to hide her eyes.  
“You are beautiful, you know,” Aurora said, continuing to gently stroke her cheek, and then her horns again, delighting in running her fingers along them, “Especially when you blush! Your cheeks and pointed ears are turning rather pink!” she giggled. This was probably her best opportunity to ask Maleficent how she really felt about the upcoming wedding, and if she felt the same way Aurora did; that they were destined for more, and that the true love they shared could be expressed in new, special ways of being together. “Extraordinarily so, and I enjoy touching you even more than looking at you.”  
“Please don’t.”  
“Why not?” Aurora asked, wondering what she meant. Did she not want her to touch her, or just not there? “Did that hurt?”  
“They’re very sensitive, like teeth,” Maleficent whispered. She didn’t add that Aurora’s touch thrilled her more than she could ever have expected, the feel of her fingers gliding over one of her horns sent a powerful thrill reverberating throughout her body, and so she just blushed, rather than say what she was thinking, which might be impolitely carnal. Aurora was gentle and sweet, and the last thing she would ever want to do was destroy their friendship by asking for more. It was going to be a difficult experience, to stand there and politely smile while Aurora married her prince. But now that she knew about the witch’s curse, it was probably for the best. Although she would have wanted to stay with her forever, and to someday have the experience of lying with her, it wasn’t meant to be. Since she was cursed that everyone she loved would die and everything she ever touched would turn to darkness and ashes, she should obviously stop touching and start controlling herself. Starting now, she thought, holding back both the desire to hold Aurora and the urge to cry. Fortunately, the intense arousal she had woken up with had mostly subsided.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”  
“No, you didn’t hurt me, just startle.”  
“Did you have a bad dream?”  
“Not bad, just very different.”  
“Oh…” There was so much that she wished she could just say, but she wasn’t sure how. She would have wondered if fairies even felt like that, but since Clecie had fallen so desperately in love, they must, mustn’t they? But Maleficent looked like she was going to cry instead. “Are you well? What happened to your hand?”  
“I burned it,” was the softly whispered answer.  
“Would you let me try to heal it?” It was a brave request, and the fairy’s eyes flew open in surprise.  
Maleficent wasn’t expecting that, and she wasn’t sure what to say. She knew what Aurora was referring to; the magical healing that had occurred when the princess had rescued her. She had felt very, very good in the princess’ arms, and an unexpectedly divine moment of pleasure had surged through her and healed most of her wounds. All pain had blissfully faded away entirely as the gag and blindfold had come off, and she looked into Aurora’s eyes. But clearly the princess had mistaken her shudders for pain, when that’s not what they had been at all. Oh, to feel that way again, without any shame or discomfort, just the delight of having Aurora all to herself! What you do to me, she wanted to exclaim, but she didn’t. Instead she looked away, and answered, “It will heal soon on its own.”  
“Are you sure? I want you to be comfortable, and that looks painful.”  
Indeed it was. In her grief induced madness she had reached into an inferno, and burnt herself through to the bone. At least it wasn’t black anymore, Maleficent noticed, looking at her hand. That would have really upset Aurora. “It will heal. Don’t you have plans you should be making?”  
“Speaking of which,” she reminded herself and told Maleficent, “The king wants to talk to us about what’s been going on at home, and what’s happening away to the South. Phillip seems to have some sort of foresight, and says that he saw wars, dragons…”  
Maleficent felt like cold water was being poured on her. All of that was not what she wanted to think about at that moment, and so she closed her eyes, blocking everything out. Human greed, human problems; supernatural greed, supernatural problems… none of which were actually hers. All she truly desired, when she admitted it to herself, was to go home and lie around naked with Aurora, in nests and in beautiful jeweled pools, drinking fairy nectar and making love to each other. That was, she realized in a moment of truth and crystal clarity, what she really wanted. But Aurora was going to marry a human man, and interact in their world, and so she needed to keep her fey desires to herself.  
Aurora experienced a moment of frustration, then she asked, “Did you go out last night and conjure your mother’s ghost?”  
“Why?” Maleficent asked, opening her eyes and looking at Aurora in amazement. The princess must have been talking to the magic mirror while she was away, but she hadn’t conjured anything, just swore revenge. “No, why?”  
“Because I saw her ghost right before you woke up, and she warned me about the Seven Dwarves.”  
“What?” Maleficent exclaimed, sitting up. “What?”  
“I saw her while I was closing the windows,” Aurora explained. “She appeared behind me, and at first I was afraid, but then she told me ‘Beware the Seven Dwarves,’ and I wasn’t scared anymore. Then she vanished…” She stopped talking, realizing that the fairy wasn’t pleased.  
Maleficent scowled, why would Clecie’s ghost appear to Aurora? After all night of crying beside her fallen body, and she hadn’t appeared then, she chose to materialize and speak to the lovely princess? Clecie still cruelly played favorites, she thought. What little time out of eternity she could spare from being with her true love Edward she had spent talking to Aurora, the beautiful golden-haired princess. No time wasted on her dark daughter. But no, she chided herself; that was childish and churlish thinking. So she sighed, “Maybe you saw your own reflection in the frosted glass,” she suggested.  
“No, I don’t have glowing green eyes,” Aurora answered, wondering what she had done to offend. “Where were you last night?”  
“I found her body,” Maleficent explained. “The evil dwarves dropped an enormous boulder of iron ore on her, so I couldn’t even get very close. There was nothing visible but a skeletal hand and some worn lace. I touched it, despite the heat, and burned my hand. Then I swore revenge against the Seven Dwarves.”  
“Then you did summon her!” Aurora exclaimed, “Just not the way you thought!” She looked at the fairy’s disheveled appearance, and asked, “Where?”  
“At the bottom of a ravine,” Maleficent explained. “It took me all day to locate, after forty years of wind and water it wasn’t easy to find.” Aurora put her arms around her, and then she added, “It was as that wicked dwarf said, they did push her off a cliff. That boulder had iron in it, too, so she couldn’t cast any spells. She used to have wings… Falling after she had given up her wings for a man who died so soon afterward…”  
Aurora kissed her cheek. From what she had deduced, looking at the potions in the secret chamber and from the dwarves’ accusations, Clecie had turned herself into a vampire, drinking the blood of fair maidens in order to stay young and beautiful forever. That’s why they must have used that massive iron ore boulder, she thought, they weren’t just killing a fairy or a witch, they were incinerating a vampire. But there was no point in bringing up her discovery, or in arguing, Aurora realized. To do so would only upset her dear, already shaky friend even further, and no benefit would be gained. Clecie hated Snow White enough to try to kill her, or perhaps to just put her in a state of sleeping death and thus have the lovely maiden’s blood permanently available, and the dwarves had been getting revenge. Was it a trap they set? Aurora had no way of knowing, all she could say for certain was that they needed to go home before the dwarves killed another fairy. They weren’t quite as bumbling and stupid as they appeared, and no doubt some sort of plan had already been made.  
“There is one more thing, though,” Aurora said, touching Maleficent’s hair. “Something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.” And she would have to tell her, apparently the fairy was never going to think of it herself. She looked over at the raven, who had been quietly sitting in the corner, “Something that would be a truly beautiful gesture.”  
“Oh, what?”  
Still petting her dark hair, Aurora said as gently as possible, so as to gloss over unpleasant details, “When I saved your life, you offered to be my servant forever, and I said that wasn’t necessary. Since Diaval was instrumental in that, I think it would be appropriate if you were to do the same.” Maleficent looked confused, and the raven cawed at her. So Aurora specified, “Maybe, you could thank him by gifting him with not only his freedom but the ability to control his own shape shifting.”  
Maleficent looked at them, the golden haired princess who was holding her, and her trusted servant Diaval, both of whom were leaning forward in anticipation, obviously waiting for something. Aurora kept petting her hair, and then nudged her. “Oh,” Maleficent said, realizing what they wanted, and that these two had saved her life, because they were her only two friends, and she was very lucky to have them, especially after what she had learned about the witch’s curse. So she did what Aurora had requested, and released him from her power, but let him retain some of that energy, so that he could change form at his own will. “I release you,” she declared, and severed the bonds.  
Taking human form, he held her uninjured hand and said “Thank you,” then gently kissed it, while Aurora hugged her enthusiastically, and kissed her cheek.  
“You won’t be as strong,” Maleficent informed him, “Because you’re not pulling energy from me. You can only assume forms human to crow sized, and only shapes that I have put you into before. You are quite limited in what you can do.”  
Aurora and Diaval looked at each other and laughed, “She thinks that would discourage me,” Diaval said, and Aurora giggled merrily, while Maleficent looked at them both askance.  
“Why are you laughing at me?” she asked.  
“We’re not laughing at you,” Aurora explained, giving her another hug and a peck on the cheek, “And I have figured out that there are entire swaths of human emotions that fairies just don’t have. We’re laughing because we love you.”  
“You’re right,” Maleficent agreed. “I don’t understand that.”  
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Aurora suggested, “And go meet the others for dinner. Phillip said they haven’t seen the dwarves for a while…”  
“No, I do not want to.”  
“I know the king wants to talk about some boring subjects but they are important…”  
“Go without me, please? I will be ready to speak with them tomorrow, but not right now.”  
Aurora sighed, and reluctantly agreed. Diaval turned back into a raven, and flying out the window, left them. Aurora felt frustrated, but decided to go. Leaving the fairy to go back to sleep, she met Phillip and told him what had happened. So they talked to the king without her, and Aurora learned some very strange and interesting old lore in the process.


	13. The Sleeping Death Spell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent finds the bowl which held the poison her mother used to create the apple that was supposed to kill Snow White, and Aurora awakens her with a kiss.

Chapter 13  
The Sleeping Death Spell

“My mother’s old dresses…”  
Completely forsaking the dances and parties that were occurring in the halls below, and the music and fun that went with it, Aurora kept coming back into the secret chamber to visit with Maleficent, who now refused to leave it, hoping to cheer up her lovely fairy friend and make her less strange and brooding. She still wondered if it was because of the upcoming wedding. She and Phillip hadn’t called it off yet, they were still wondering if they should, and Aurora was wondering what would be the best way to broach the subject. She also wanted to keep Maleficent as safe as possible, from the Seven Dwarves, accidentally drinking the wrong potion and becoming a vampire, the ulterior motives of the magic mirror, whatever other problems she didn’t know about yet; and hopefully to stop her further descent into insanity. There was an unearthly glowing red light behind her eyes that worried Aurora more than everything else combined.   
Asking the mirror questions she was fairly sure had nice answers, Aurora discovered she could use it as a sort of music-box. She asked it to show minstrels who had played at royal events long past, and to please show just the musicians, not anyone who might be acting up at the party. The result was quite pleasant, she thought, and provided an unending supply of delightful background music to work by. Altering the dresses Aurora had found carefully preserved in the unopened wardrobe proved to be a double blessing. Not only did it give them something to do, and keep Maleficent from drinking any more questionable potions, but their appearances had much improved. Since neither of them had brought anything with them nearly nice enough for the court, altering Queen Clecie’s fine gowns was the simplest solution to their problem of borrowing, wearing unreliable fairy garb, or looking very, very rustic.   
“This one did turn out lovely,” Maleficent admitted as she admired herself in the mirror.  
“You are very fair indeed, my lady,” the mirror answered, “As beautiful as your mother.”  
The dress was a supernaturally lovely thing, and fit exquisitely. She had no way of knowing it, but the oxblood red silk and black lace dress had been crafted by a werespider tailor, and there were few such things like it in existence. They simply marveled at how it fit, as the black and silver beads of the gown rustled softly, making an almost musical sound. The lacy sleevelets of the gown had also been designed to slip down over the arms off the shoulder, leaving a feathery trail of whispery lace that looked like the sound the beads were making. The feelings it caused were intensely sensual, and made the viewer want to touch; and touch Aurora did; her long dark hair, her elegant silhouette, and the smooth bare arms and shoulders of the wistful fairy beside her. She touched the joints where the feathers met the skin, and marveled at the beauty of the musculature. Taking the back off the dress enabled her to wear it and leave her wings free. The magic belt around her waist glittered alluringly, drawing the eye downward from her beautiful face and hair, which had been twisted up on top of her head and fastened with some of Clecie’s ruby hair pins. Aurora put her arms around her and they gazed together into the mirror.   
“You are very beautiful,” Aurora whispered into her ear, “Very, very lovely,” she murmured into the beautiful fairy’s ear, her dark hair tickling her nose, “Irresistibly so!” She inhaled softly the scent of powdery roses and warm butterfly wings, realizing that Maleficent was wearing one of Clecie’s perfumes as well.  
“Do you think she would like it?”  
“Who?”  
“My mother. We did cut up one of her most beautiful gowns.” She looked over at Aurora, who was wearing a lovely black velvet dress beset with glittering beads of white crystal, jet, and amethyst, “More than one.” She was somewhat surprised, upon seeing the young woman in the strapless, bejeweled gown, that Aurora had developed a pleasing figure indeed. Her hips were nicely curved under the dark fabric, and she had firm, upright breasts that seemed far more womanly than last time the fairy had noticed, when Aurora had tossed her dress to the side and tried to drag her into the stream. This was no wee beastie, this was a voluptuous young woman that was hovering around her. She was briefly tempted to touch, but she didn’t. Instead, she forced her eyes away, and then was transfixed again upon the ruby, silver and gold glitter of the magic belt.  
“Yes,” Aurora said softly into her ear, “Of course! With everything she did for love, I’m sure she would have been very happy to see you looking so beautiful in one of her old gowns, and held by someone who loved you.”  
Maleficent continued to stare at herself, and then again down at the wonderful gift. Nothing was or could ever be as enthralling and valuable as it was. So perfect in her hands, and she loved the way it hung from her waist and hips. She touched it, delighting in its beauty and weight. It glittered alluringly, and the dress rustled as she moved, providing a soothing sound for her motions. How the jeweled ruby roses and emerald leaves captured her fancy! She supposed she should be happy and grateful towards the dwarves for such a gift, but she was not. She despised them as much as ever, and would on no account ever give the beautiful thing back. It was hers, her precious treasure. Her pleasure at killing them would be greatly enhanced by wearing it. She kept touching it, touching it, fingering the belt around her waist, and arching down her front. How it glittered and sparkled, thrilling her so! Staring at herself in the mirror, she became suddenly even more enraptured, and perceiving both the magic belt and its image created a hypnotic duplicity of reality. Nothing else was real, only the image of beauty that she desired. She touched herself, her senses heightened, and the beauty she wanted was both within her grasp and unattainable. She touched both the jeweled belt and the curve of her own hips. Her breasts rose and fell under the oxblood and black lace silk, diamonds glittering. She tipped her head to the side and admired herself. How lovely…  
Perceiving that a perfect time had come, Aurora’s hand slipped down Maleficent’s side, slowly sliding over her breasts and lovely white arms, bare except for the feathery black lace, then downward toward her hips, caressing her body beneath the red silk and black, bejeweled lace. Her hand played lightly on the belt, her other hand circling around the fairy’s waist.  
“So beautiful,” Aurora murmured into Maleficent’s ear, leaning in for a kiss. “Mmm…”  
Maleficent stiffened; she didn’t like anyone’s grasping hands that close to the treasure. She breathed abruptly and Aurora’s hands fell away, and she looked at her strangely.   
Aurora stepped back and let the nervous fairy out of her embrace. Perhaps it was too much, too soon, she wondered. Or maybe it was possible that Maleficent really didn’t want her in that way at all. But then why would she be so very jealous of Phillip, and upset about a possible wedding? She needed to find out if there was any possibility that Maleficent wanted more, so she would know what to tell Phillip. Their marriage would be to unite kingdoms, and produce children. They would have their own special loves, under the umbrella of their marriage and friendship. Phillip had Leonard, his special friend. They had both assumed that Maleficent was Aurora’s. It had seemed to Aurora, back at home in Fairyland, from the jealousy and the sultry looks in Maleficent’s eyes, that she certainly had wanted such a relationship. But the fairy moved away. Aurora was disappointed; this would have been a perfect opportunity. Maybe Maleficent had changed her mind, or felt angry and rejected by Aurora’s engagement with Phillip. Fairies were notorious for becoming easily offended.  
“Perhaps I should clear off the table, and we can alter another of the beautiful gowns?” Aurora suggested, to ease the awkwardness and make conversation. She couldn’t guess what was going through the fairy’s mind; she was acting so strangely, and seemed obsessed with the gift the ugly dwarves had given her. It was enchanting, Aurora knew that, its cut and shape drawing the eye to it and toward the wearer’s waist and hips, suggesting equally luscious jewels were contained underneath. But that was not all. Maleficent had been fascinated with the magic mirror, and driven by a desire to learn everything that she could about her deceased mother, even began drinking questionable and possibly poisonous potions. Aurora understood that, even if it did seem dangerously risky, extreme and obsessive. But this preoccupation with the jeweled belt was different. It gave no answers, provided no history, it just consumed her attention. It occurred to Aurora that there might be something else wrong. The belt was cursed. Of course, she thought. The dwarves, cursing the fairy; it all made sense! She didn’t like the magic mirror much, either, and sometimes fancied that she saw the eyes of a dragon there, staring at them when the fairy’s back was turned.   
“Yes,” was the absentminded reply, as Maleficent gazed at and stroked the gems on the belt. A greedy love surged through her, and she relished ownership of it yet again. So beautiful, and it was hers, all hers! Her satisfaction when she killed the seven dwarves would be enhanced by wearing it. Barely taking her eyes off of it, she picked up the old bowl that had been set aside earlier in their haste to use the table. In it were the remains of several apples, so long dried and moldy that only their wizened vestiges remained. Maleficent picked it up without thinking, taking it out to the main bedchamber, and opened the window. Using her fingers, she tossed the wizened apples down into the water below, flicking remaining bits of apple crud out onto the air, and then absentmindedly putting her fingers in her mouth, still thinking about the beautiful jewels around her waist. She noticed first the wonderful smell of fresh baked apple pies, and then the taste of sugar and cinnamon. Fizzy apple cider made her nose tingle, and then her fingers went numb, and she felt a little dizzy, with an ashen taste in her mouth. The raven cawed loudly, and she realized what she had just touched; the last of the batch of poisoned apples that had been delivered to Snow White. Delicious apple gave way to the raunchy smell of death, and her mouth felt raw and slime-filled, as she gasped. The image of rotting things lying in the earth filled her mind, along with the certain knowledge that she would soon be among them while the sensation of a giant fist tightening around her heart strengthened. She felt an oppressive sense of doom, and the fist clenched tighter and tighter, until she couldn’t breathe either, and then it felt like not just a fist, but more like a giant boot pressing down on her chest with the full weight of the giant on top of it. The raven kept cawing loudly, and Aurora ran out of the magic chamber in time to see the bowl fall out of Maleficent’s hands and clatter to the floor as her breathing slowed, and she staggered as her heart stopped. Aurora caught her before her head hit the floor, and Diaval cawed to her what had just happened.   
Aurora shook her head and looked over at the raven, “What a family they are for sleeping death spells!” she laughed softly, and Diaval shook his head, appreciating the humor. Lifting Maleficent, Aurora exclaimed, “Why, she’s light as a feather! I suppose she has to be, to fly…” She set the fairy down on the bed, and sighed. The raven landed next to her, and they gazed at the sleeping fairy for a moment. “Wait,” Aurora said with a smile, “This is a wonderful opportunity! I’ll awaken her tomorrow morning, just at dawn, when the sun’s first rays are shining through the window, with true love’s kiss, and…” Diaval interrupted, pointing out that it had already been done. “That kind of love, yes,” Aurora smiled, “But there are many kinds, and feelings change. I’m not a child anymore, I’m eighteen! That, and I think we both feel things now that we didn’t before, and so this will be quite different. You know what I’m talking about, how she looks at me, but never says anything. She may not know how I feel, but when I wake her up, she will! She will know then how much I love and desire her, hopefully as much as she loves and desires me.” The raven nodded. He’d noticed that as well, but never interfered. Nobody asked his opinion on the matter, so he didn’t give it. “So, I want it to be perfect! Let’s see, we will need lots of flowers, candles, maybe some honey wine, and definitely some water. She’ll probably want a drink of water when she wakes up, I know I did… Oh, and get all your songbird friends to come! That will be so romantic, with birds singing, and a blush pink morning light, and flowers everywhere…” The raven gave an interesting caw, and Aurora laughed. “No, I shall not need any assistance past that point!” she laughed. “Indeed, by the third kiss I want you out the window and on your way!” she laughed. “Go, tell your friends, and be back here just before dawn tomorrow morning!” Aurora then rushed around, getting a quick list of what she would need. She made Maleficent comfortable for her sleep, taking off her shoes and the dwarves’ belt. The shoes were the same ones she had borrowed from Snow White, black with red ruby roses and skulls in white gems. Funeral shoes, Aurora remembered, and thought it was strange how well they matched the ruby rose and gold belt, which she took off Maleficent next. It seemed a great heavy thing to put on a fairy, she thought, and set it at the foot of the bed with the fairy’s shoes. She felt a little pang as she set it down, it was so very pretty, and would look fantastic on her! It glittered and beckoned to her, and so she held it up to the light, and there it called to her. Leave her, it seemed to whisper, leave her there to sleep forever and take me! The gems sparkled, but within them now dwelt a spirit of death and doom, and Aurora felt it. There was something very unwholesome about the jeweled belt, and she sensed that it was luring her, both begging her to put it on and hissing at her, but she had more important things on her mind. She was so excited about her elegant plan of seduction, and had so little time to prepare that she had to hurry, and not become distracted. Then she removed the pins and jewels in Maleficent’s hair. “Those don’t look very comfortable for sleeping,” Aurora whispered to her, “Until later, my love!”   
First she cleaned the bedchamber of all the old dust, and restored it to the lustrous beauty it was meant to have. Thus she felt the stage was ready to be set for the grand awakening the next morning. Then she carefully locked up the secret chamber, and the main doors. Not that anyone would come poking around the old queen’s rooms, since there was a wizard lock on the door, and they had been unused for decades anyway, but Aurora felt caution was in order, and she didn’t trust the dwarves at all. Was a wizard lock any good if they just hacked down the wooden door? They were greedy by nature, and would steal back the jeweled gift if they possibly could. Of course, she knew, she would automatically have a bias towards her fairy friend, but where Maleficent was airy and wistful, the dwarves were earthy and forceful. They wouldn’t wait for years on something, feeling, brooding, and slowly changing. They would find a way to take what they wanted, and quickly. She had a sudden horrible thought, of what the dwarves might be capable of. The queen’s ghost had quite clearly told her to beware of them. She was very glad of the magic password at that moment, and wondered how sweet, simple, shallow Snow White had managed for all that time in the dwarves’ cottage. Lots of chaste singing didn’t seem that likely to her, the more she thought about it, and wondered not only how that could be possible, but upon what strange circumstances might allow her to ask. Either way, she thought, Snow White was awake and the master of her own virtue, while the fairy was under the influence of her mother’s sleeping death spell. So she let the unicorn tapestry fall back over the wizard-locked door, and proceeded with her plan.   
Putting the horrid dwarves quite out of her mind, Aurora spent the rest of the day and the evening delightfully gathering roses, peonies, gardenias, and other fragrant blossoms from the woods and gardens, until the last rays of the setting sun cast the gardens in an august, golden hue, and finally turned to deep blue. First arranging all the delightful flowers and greens, she quickly fetched scented beeswax candles from the storerooms, and soon the vases and sconces on the walls were restored to their true appearance. As the raven told her everything he had seen that day, Aurora took a moment to admire the beauty of it all, and then went to find the rest of the items she needed. It was late in the evening before she finished, and everything was perfect for the awakening the next morning. Putting on a light slip for sleeping in, she pulled some blankets over herself, and dropped off to sleep for a few hours.   
In no time it seemed, the raven was nudging her awake, and the sun was about to rise. Like all birds, Diaval was up with the sun every morning. “Oh, that’s right!” Aurora exclaimed, awakening in the black and white darkness just before the dawn. She climbed out of bed and lit the candles. Their heat and honey scent brought out the fragrance from the flowers, making the room smell heavenly. Then she sat down and poured herself a glass of mead, that her lips would be honeyed and sweet. She drank it quickly, and then savored another, the delicious wine giving her a little extra edge of courage for her awaited endeavor. The room began to lighten with the rosy hues of dawn, which caused the gold inlays on the floor and in the walls to sparkle and glow. The raven flew back outside, the chorus of birdsongs beginning. So perfect, Aurora thought, as she lay down next to Maleficent, her heart pounding with excitement, and holding her dearly beloved and desired fairy friend gently, took a deep breath, and then gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. As she had expected, the fairy’s beautiful green eyes fluttered open, and she smiled and stared at her in amazement as she realized what had happened. “True love’s kiss,” Aurora whispered to her, touching her cheek lightly with her fingers, and rubbing her thumb lightly on the fairy’s lower lip. She breathed deeply and then gave her another kiss, longer and holding her tighter. Not a kiss of fealty or devoted friendship, but a lover’s full body kiss. She felt the fairy’s arms wrap around her, lips pressing back against hers, and their bodies lying together, feeling each other’s heartbeats. Leaving off the kiss to breathe and speak, Aurora whispered, “True love’s second kiss! I love you Maleficent! And I’ve wanted to do this for a long, long time. Not a day goes by but I don’t think of how much I want to hold you in my arms!” She saw a look of adoration in the fairy’s eyes, and spoke from the heart, the caress of her hands and eyes over the red and black lace conveying her intent.  
Maleficent felt lips upon hers, and the shadows lifted as she opened her eyes into a beautiful, secret dream come true. Love made her heart flutter and restart after awakening from the sleeping death spell. She took a deep breath after the first kiss, wonder and delight filling her with that magical surge of blessed, divine energy that had healed her before, and left her so blissfully filled with desire as she looked into the eyes of the lovely young lady who had awakened her. Enraptured, body and soul while in the warm, healing arms of her Beloved as she realized what this really meant, Aurora loved her, not only in her silent wishes, longings, and imagination, but in the waking world! She had said it, that she wanted to hold her in her arms, and her awakening kiss was the blissful moment of confirmation. The sharp, acrid and rotten taste of death was gone, replaced by honeyed sweetness and the heavenly scent of a blooming garden on an early summer’s morning. She put her arms around her Beloved, and as Aurora’s soft breath warmed her skin she could smell the sweet honey wine, and she could taste it on her lips during the long, sweet second kiss that had confirmed everything she had ever wanted to know. She caressed Aurora, and slid effortlessly against her Beloved, the silk thin and transmitting the heat between them. She loved this woman so much, and had secretly wished for this many times over the past year or so, and a soft moan of desire escaped her lips. At last, oh at long last, they were going to be together! Her heart was pounding in anticipation and excitement, and then it stopped. She could feel Aurora’s body pressed tightly against hers, but the jeweled belt was gone. She panicked for a moment, and put her hands on her waist to check, and breaking off their kiss, said, “Where is it?”  
Distracted from the long awaited act of seduction by a weird comment, Aurora asked softly, caressing the beautiful fairy’s lovely shoulders and breasts, “Where is what?”  
“The belt,” Maleficent answered, sitting up, and feeling around her waist to be sure. That she had fallen asleep with it on, she was absolutely certain. Clearly, someone else had removed it. She was overcome with a need and desire for it, and a cloud of suspicion came over her eyes. So this wasn’t exactly love; certainly not the love she had hoped and wished for. It was the seduction she had so deeply and secretly desired, but not for the purpose she had at first thought. Maleficent knew how she felt about Aurora, and maybe Aurora knew it, too, and took advantage of it. Betrayed at the deepest level for her treasure, she accused bitterly, “You took it!”   
Stunned, Aurora sat up in shock, not really believing what she had just heard. “What?”   
“You took it! Where is it?” Maleficent accused and demanded. There was a strange, reddish light in her eyes.  
Aurora stood up, staring at the angry fairy in stunned amazement. “What did you just say?”  
“Thief! You stole my precious…”  
“I was trying to give you something wonderful and special! That belt is miserable and cursed, and so are you!” After all the work and planning she had put into this! Then, embarrassed and disappointed, and starting to cry hot tears of shame and chagrin, Aurora grabbed up her cloak and ran out of the room.  
She found the belt with her shoes at the foot of the bed, and quickly pounced on it. Holding the precious thing in her hands, Maleficent regained some measure of sanity as she gripped it, admired it, and then fastened it around her waist. Then the madness started to wear away, and she realized what she had just said and done. She loved the belt as much or more than herself or anyone else, and could not imagine being without it. Then, she suddenly thought how bizarre it was that she should have thought and said such things, and how the one magical moment that she should have cherished above all else, with the woman she knew she loved had gone so horribly wrong. She looked around now and perceived how much effort had gone into cleaning and decorating the bedroom, now the site of a perfect romantic interlude. And if Aurora had wanted to take the belt, she could have done it without all that work, after Maleficent had fallen asleep, and what would have been the point of waking her up again? If she wanted to steal, she could have just left her there forever. “Aurora!” she called, standing up. “What have I done? Oh, Aurora! What have I done?” She started to weep, and the raven cawed at her from the window. “Go away! I do not want to hear anything from you right now!” But the raven had plenty to say, and he said it loudly. She ignored him, and so he transformed into a man.  
“What is wrong with you?” he demanded.  
“Begone!”  
“She loves you! Why are you just sitting there after what you did?”  
“Leave me alone!”  
“Isn’t it obvious to you that horrible gift is cursed? Throw that evil thing away!”  
“No! Now go away!”  
“How can you not see what’s happening?”  
“I said go!”  
“No,” he answered. “I won’t go anywhere. You need to get rid of that thing and go apologize to Aurora. Then I’ll go away and leave you alone.”  
She was stunned at his defiance, and realizing that he had every intention of simply standing there and telling her what he thought until she agreed to apologize for her behavior and throw away the wonderful jeweled belt, she regretted giving him his freedom, and told him so.  
“Now that’s just evil,” he snapped. “Now that I think of it, maybe it is for the best that you drove her away from you, if you’re going to act like that about things. Enjoy your treasure.” So saying he turned back into a raven, and flew out the window onto a nearby branch.


	14. Snow White’s Answer to All Life’s Troubles; A Handsome Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To Snow White, a man is the answer to all of life's questions and challenges, and she is stunned when Maleficent confesses that her true love is Aurora.

Chapter 14  
Snow White’s Answer to All Life’s Troubles; A Handsome Prince

Ignoring the raven’s shaming, Maleficent cried until she decided to fly, quickly arriving at a place nearby she was surprised to find still existed. There was a decrepit treehouse in an old oak near the edge of the dairy pastures that King Edward had built for them when they were little. The treehouse had been her favorite place to play, and Snow White would organize their games around visiting the fairy in her tree palace, accompanied by an entourage of forest animal friends. Feeling quite alone, especially after insisting Diaval go away, Maleficent continued to cry in solitude. Hot tears of shame and regret poured forth, and she replayed the morning’s kiss of awakening in her mind, over and over. She wept for hours, and still didn’t feel right, her thoughts continually going back to the precious jewels around her waist, and how everyone else wanted them. This wasn’t how she was used to feeling, however, and the obsession, which seemed to be only increasing, was becoming painful. For the treasured jewels, she had disrupted and ruined something that she truly wanted more than anything else; any treasure, or any magic spell. Fingering it, she realized that she thought about it exclusively and that she hadn’t eaten or drank anything in days but the magic potions. She briefly considered taking the belt off and throwing it away. It would be just like the dwarves to give her a gift cursed with madness! But she couldn’t; it was just too beautiful.  
Brilliantly colored finches and warblers landed in the branches, and began singing together, while the raven waited silently in the leafy shadows, unheard and unseen by all. He noticed the three pixies had flown with the birds and briefly wondered why, but in a moment he had his answer. He stared at them balefully, and so they hid away from his gaze. Then Maleficent heard the snort of a horse, and with a lot of shuffling at the base of the tree, Snow White climbed up, accompanied by several chattering squirrels, who scampered around and started chirping with the songbirds. “I had a feeling I would find you here!” Snow White laughed.   
“I would like to be alone, if you please,” the tearful dark fairy said, with all the dignity she could muster through her weeping.  
“Oh, that won’t help,” Snow White sang cheerfully, closing the trap door behind her. “You always did have a bad habit of sulking! And that kind of gloomy thinking and moping around won’t make you feel any better! You have to find the good in things!”  
Snow White’s special brand of singing cheer was not what Maleficent wanted to hear right then, after the epic love failure of the morning. “I think I might vomit.”  
“Lean out that side of the tree, then.” Then she called gaily down, “Watch out!” The squirrels chirped a warning to the deer and rabbits below.   
“Thank you, Snow White, you’re too kind.” It occurred to Maleficent then that Snow White’s ability to speak with animals was unusual among humans. She wondered then why she had never noticed that before. Perhaps because Snow White had been her only playmate until she had been left by her mother in Fairyland.   
Sitting down next to the unhappy fairy, a little yellow songbird landing on her shoulder, Snow White took Maleficent’s hand and said, “I’m here to help.”  
“I really don’t need…”  
“Oh, but you do!” Snow White said with absolute sincerity. “Here’s something that will cheer you up! And you won’t be so very miserable and lonely anymore! I’ve started looking around for a husband for you!”  
“A what?” Maleficent said in disbelief. “Snow White, I do not want…”  
“But that’s the reason you’re always so miserable!” Snow White declared, her little bird hopping from shoulder to finger, and then onto Rose Red’s hand, where it was joined by another little lovebird that began nuzzling with it. Snow White stood up and began to sing, “Why, every woman needs a man to love! You need that special someone to share your life with! Love is special, love is wonderful! My husband is my best friend. He’s the center of my life, and I love him so much, why, I can’t even imagine life without him!” Snow White had noticed that Rose Red had stopped crying, and even if she did have that disgusted look on her face, Snow White knew that meant she was moving in the right direction. “Now, I’ve been looking around, and there are some very handsome available kings, including the Elvenking of Greenwood, as well as a highly regarded half-elven lord who is separated from his wife…”  
Oh, no, Maleficent thought, she’s singing with the animals again. “Snow White, if I didn’t want a husband before, why would your song and dancing forest creatures make me want one?” She shook her head, and flicked the little lovebirds on their way, “No, Snow White, no.”  
Snow White laughed merrily and then began the second part of her song, “But we’re going to have so much fun, finding you a husband! And you’ll see that marriage brings such happiness! Once you have someone to talk to and who is more important than everyone else in the world, you’ll see…”  
“Stop singing! I already have someone who is more important to me than everyone else in the world! And I already have a best friend to talk to.”  
“No, no, no, silly!” Snow White giggled. “A bird is not a best friend! In fact, I remember that your mother had a pet raven, too! Isn’t that funny? And Aurora is going to marry Phillip, and they’re going to be very happy together! That leaves you alone, sulking in a tree with no one! You need a companion, a husband, a man to love and who will take care of you…”  
“Snow White, I do not need a man! I do not need anyone to take care of me!”  
“Oh, but you do!” Snow White answered with absolute conviction, taking the reluctant fairy’s hand. “Oh, but you do, dear! Just look at you, sitting here crying alone in a tree! Every woman needs a man to complete her, to have someone to love…”  
“I do not need to get married, I do not need a man, and I certainly do not need a man to feel complete!”  
“Have you ever even kissed a man?” Snow White laughed.  
“I once had a love affair with a man who lied to and betrayed me in every horrible way possible in order to make himself king!”  
“Was that your relationship with King Stephan?”  
“Yes,” she answered bitterly.  
“I’m so sorry about that disaster, dear! I once recall the wizard telling John that he,” she changed her voice to imitate that of the wizard’s, “Can’t trust that wormy old ass pirate Stephan for anything. Don’t loan him any more gold, you’ll be lucky to see a sliver of silver back.” Then Snow White knit her brows and looked very stern, like Rudyard the Wizard, and shook her finger just as the old man did, “Don’t fall asleep around that one, he’ll steal your booty!” she giggled. “Then he stopped talking when he saw me…”  
Maleficent thought that not strangling Snow White at that moment was a testament to her self-control. Her voice was low and her eyes were glowing when she said slowly, “It’s not funny, Snow White. There was nothing at all amusing about waking up like that.” There certainly hadn’t been. She had hurt from head to toe. “He drugged me and left me face down in the dirt. He did that first, and when I didn’t respond, he ripped my wings off. When I finally did wake up, everything hurt so much I could hardly move.”  
“Oh, how awful! Oh, you poor dear! I’m so sorry! I’m not laughing at you, poor dear, and no wonder you were so upset! Oh, you poor thing! What a horrible, horrible evil thing for him to do! That must have been so awful! That certainly wasn’t love,” Snow White sympathized. “That was something else, something evil, horrid, cruel and deceitful.” She put her arms around the angry, unhappy fairy and said, “My poor, sweet, dear Rose Red! How could anyone do something so horribly awful to my beautiful little sister! And that definitely explains why you’re upset and crying in a tree.” She kissed her forehead, just like she used to do when they were little, and it suddenly unleashed a long suppressed wail and a flood of tears. Snow White held her and touched her hair, just like they used to do long ago, when the little flying fairy would crash into something and cry because she was hurt. “Poor dear,” Snow White said, and let her cry, rocking her gently. When the tears were nearly spent, she kissed her forehead again, and said, “I’m sorry for saying something so thoughtless and upsetting! But I was just pointing out that you’re not the only one who felt that way about him. He really wasn’t very nice at all. John thought that he got exactly what he deserved. And you can’t let one bad person stop you from ever loving again! Most people aren’t like that, and we can find you someone to love who…”  
“I have someone to love!” Maleficent exclaimed in frustration, sitting up and wiping her eyes. Even after all these years, Snow White was still stupid! “Someone I said something horrible to earlier and that’s why I’m crying in a tree! Oh, Snow White, will you please go away and leave me alone?”  
“Oh, who is it?”  
“I would really rather not say.”  
“So you do have a secret love! I knew it! Oh, but you can tell me! After all, I am your only sister, and you’re my only sister. We’re supposed to be able to talk to each other.”   
The fairy sighed and finished wiping away the tears. “Well, I suppose… I think I ruin things. I just get upset too fast…” The birds and squirrels gathered round with Snow White to listen, and the raven cautiously leaned in one of the treehouse windows, while the three pixies held their breath to not miss a word.  
“Elves and fairies are more emotional and quick to anger than humans,” Snow White agreed, pushing the damp hair out of Rose Red’s tear stained face. “And you always did get upset so fast! Why I remember when you were little and learning to fly, just after you learned to walk and talk! Oh my! You were so naughty, and would leap off of things, and then crash, screaming because you were hurt and frustrated! Then you did learn to fly, and matters were even worse! You would fly up into trees and refuse to come down, or worse yet, flying up into the chandeliers and shaking all the crystals off!” Maleficent remembered the sheer joy of doing that, finally getting at those wonderful, glittering crystals, and laughed. “Then when you cut yourself on the glass you wailed like nothing else!”  
Maleficent laughed again, and wiping away the rest of her tears said, “I sound like a brat and a half.”  
“Oh, and that was just the beginning of it! An ordinary two year old throws fits and gets into things, but a flying one with a temper! Oh my! We had to put ankle bracelets on you and tie you to things just to halt the destruction!”   
“I hated those ankle bracelets!” Indeed she had loathed and resented those restraints, and remembered sitting on a chair, her ankle chained to a table leg while Snow White sang about the importance of being good. There had been no possibility of escape, there was only enough chain for her to move around, and attempted flying would have landed her on the floor. She knew that quite well, having tried it before.   
“I know you did!” Snow White laughed. “But the ribbons only worked for a little while, until you learned how to untie them! Then you were into things again! So that’s when we had to use those pretty little chains. Oh, and the queen would get so angry when the castle was ransacked by you right before she wanted to have a ball or a banquet! She would beat and scream at me to clean it up and keep you out of sight. That’s why I had to use chains on the ankle bracelets, or put you in a cage. Finally the huntsman came up with the idea of cutting most of the feathers off of one wing so you couldn’t get far. Of course, that just made you fall down and cry more.”  
“I did not like being lanyarded to things, or put into a cage. I felt like a prisoner. I remember the huntsman cutting off those feathers. I wondered why he was doing that, until I tried to fly away, and jumped up only to go wildly out of control and crash. Then you picked me up and told me that flying and magic were very naughty, and that I had to try as hard as I could to be good. I didn’t really learn to use magic until my mother left me in Fairyland, where all of the creatures were magical, and flew. Was she really that cruel? Why did she beat you?” She thought about Clecie’s diary, the magic mirror, and how annoying Snow White could be, but she didn’t say that Clecie had probably beat her for being stupid. Maleficent could remember her mother admonishing her to be good, and not fly around and ruin things, and frequently beating Snow White. The unsettling thought that Snow White had been beaten for the things that she did entered into her mind. She also suddenly recalled a giggling Snow White kissing the huntsman, and how that had infuriated Clecie as well.   
“It’s a good thing you didn’t learn to use magic earlier! You would have only made more messes and noise, and she didn’t like messes or noise,” Snow White said, “Do you remember the nights we spent locked in the tower?”  
Maleficent thought, and remembered being very cold, wet, and afraid, but she didn’t know when, or why. “That sounds so familiar. I remember feeling like that quite a bit. Here, and after she left me in the Moors. Days were adventurous, but the nights were frightening, and I remember loving my new fairyland so much except being afraid at night when it rained, and missing you. I eventually figured out how to make a nice nest for myself.”  
“Oh, poor dear! Sometimes she would be in a terrible mood, and so she would lock us up in one of the highest towers, where almost no one ever goes because it’s so chilly up there! Those beautiful towers that look so enchanting from a distance are almost unusable because of the cold.”  
“Why? Weren’t there some sort of nursemaids who should have been supervising us?”  
“It happened quite a bit, dear. And when she had a party, all the staff was attending to the guests, not to us. We had no way of knowing it, but our nurses were taking care of the guests’ children, while we were locked in the tower.”  
“But why?”  
“She didn’t want us around,” Snow White explained sadly, “Or for anyone to know about us.”  
“But I have looked through her diary, trying to find something…” her voice trailed off. She knew what she wanted to find, but she hadn’t really found it.  
“I know what you want,” Snow White said. “You want to find a letter about how much she loved you. But you’re not going to find it,” she added. “She didn’t have that anywhere within her. Rose Red, dear, she beat me more but she hated us both.”  
“That’s not possible!”  
“I’m sorry but it is,” Snow White said. “She only wanted to have Edward all to herself, and we were not necessary. They had a boy, you know, but he only lived a few months, dying just after the naming day. Poor, dear Father was completely heartbroken. I know how much they wanted a son; I do remember the grand celebrations surrounding his birth. But she did not want us, either of us. She was as cold as an icy snowbank. There wasn’t anything warm in or about her. I never, ever imagined that the two of you were related because she wasn’t nice to you either! She was so very beautiful, with her perfect golden hair done up and her gowns that sparkled so! But she never touched us, either of us, except in anger. Don’t you remember how she would just stand there, looking so pretty, and glare at us with her eyes shining in that unearthly way?”  
“I didn’t think that meant she was angry. I thought that she was just watching us.”  
“Watching, and hating,” Snow White said.   
“But why?” Maleficent wondered. “Why be jealous of children?”  
“She didn’t want any competitors for his affections, and we’re both very pretty, if I do say so myself! And you’re just as beautiful as she was! Don’t you remember?”  
“No, and I never felt that she disliked me, just that she was upset and angry a lot.”  
“Yes,” Snow White said sadly, surprised Maleficent didn’t remember anything about it. “And she simply hated me. Perhaps she was jealous of the love Father had for me, and I for him. We always had a special relationship that predated her, and she was infuriated by that. Before Father died, she yelled and occasionally beat me. After he died so tragically and unexpectedly fighting one of the great fire dragons, she blamed me, and the beatings became much worse. I was very unhappy for years. Then suddenly you disappeared, and the huntsman took me into the woods with her instructions to kill me. That’s when I had my adventure with the dwarves, and she gave me the poisoned apples. Then, I was awakened by true love’s kiss, and I was so happy!”  
“Did you ever kiss the huntsman?” Maleficent asked.  
Snow White giggled, and said, “Oh, I had quite a crush on him when I was younger!” Then she said, “But, he wasn’t my true love.”  
“Do you remember true love’s first kiss?”  
“Oh certainly! I could never, ever forget that!”  
“How did it feel?” Maleficent asked, then remembering to add, “Without singing!”  
Snow White laughed, and then said, “Like awakening into a wonderful dream, and the man I had been fantasizing and singing about was right there, and my friends were there! Everything I had ever dreamed of was coming true! It was the most wonderful thing imaginable. I knew right then that I was where I should be, and that my true love had awakened me! It was a rapturous love, a true love that just keeps going forever and ever! He told me how beautiful I was, and he took me back here to White Castle, and everything was perfect! And ever after, life has been a dream of romance, and still, after all these years, whenever he speaks, I feel butterflies in my heart!”  
“Then perhaps a sort of karmic vengeance has been achieved, thanks to my mother’s sleeping death spell. She used the most powerful of ingredients, that she might doom you. But, your true love awakened you and led you to your happily ever after. But here lies the bitterest of ironies. I too know the feeling of being swept into that same love spell, but without a happy ending. Therein to dwell, forever and ever, like a ghost haunting a desolate landscape, with only the power to watch joy and happiness, never to feel it myself. Nor will I know peace or fulfillment. Always I will feel it as an endless longing…” Noticing Snow White’s confused expression, Maleficent stopped herself, and then started to explain. “I was cleaning my mother’s old room, and put my hand into the fruit bowl that had once held the poisoned apples you ate. I am sorry, by the way, that my mother poisoned you, and that she beat you because she was so jealous and vain. I found her diaries, and I am sad to say that her appearance was mostly what she thought about.” She paused, and Snow White held her hand. Maleficent sighed, and continued. “She cut off her wings for him, you know; for our father. She was a fairy, with beautiful, golden brown wings, an azure third eye and lovely, sensitive butterfly antennae to see and feel the vibrations of the world with. But she fell in love with a human man, and wanted to be with him. She went to a witch, and traded her wings and antennae for a love potion, and to look human. The witch also put out her third eye, blinding her to the deeper magic of the world, and that was why she always wore those headdresses with the sharp point in the front, to hide the scar.” The fairy almost confided the rest of the story, about the first born child, but bit her lip instead, and Snow White spoke.  
“It must have been a tremendous sacrifice that she made for love.”  
“It was. But I don’t respect her for it,” Maleficent confided, “And I find it harder to understand her because of it. And I think it drove her mad; especially being deprived of the ability to sense through the antennae.”  
“That is perhaps a sadly accurate description. I remember what living with her was like. But continue with your story!”  
“I had just tossed the dried apples out, when I began to feel strange. My hand went numb, I felt dizzy, and I fainted. When I awoke, it was at dawn’s first light, and there were birds singing, lovely candles and flowers everywhere, and Aurora was lying next to me, kissing and holding me. She gave me true love’s kiss. Not deep devotion in friendship or kindness, it was like you said, the beginning of a wonderful, rapturous lifelong romance! It was everything I had ever secretly wished for, and yet so much more, because it was real! She loved me! Everything was so perfect and beautiful, like you said. And then…”  
“Aurora?” Snow White asked, stunned. The three fairies were agape, and stared at each other in disbelief. Merriweather, formerly known as Flittle, knit her brow and shook her blue, bow covered head in rejection, scowling deeply, while the other two fairies looked simply shocked.  
“Yes. She kissed me twice, and told me how much she loved me. I love her very, very much, but that’s not what I said…”  
Snow White took her hand, and looking into her eyes with utter sincerity said, “That is evil, and very, very, very wrong. That is wrong on so many levels.”  
“Wait, you’re telling me that kissing Aurora is wrong when you had sex with seven ugly little men?”  
“Shhh! Don’t say that!”  
“Why not? Who’s here? Just the animals?”  
“There are always people who follow a queen around!”  
“What! Why didn’t you say that earlier? Who is listening to us? There is an entire new set of reasons why I would never want to be a part of that!” She jumped up, and looking down from the treehouse, was mortified to see not only several servants, three horses, and a groomsman, but two of Snow White’s exquisitely dressed and preened daughters as well, glancing back up at her with knowing smiles. Oh, they’d heard everything! The pleasures they would have, repeating all of that around court! Diaval cawed, revealing the presence of the three pixies, who had been hiding beneath the treehouse eves, listening in to their conversation. They immediately fled to where the angry dark fairy couldn’t see them. She turned around, enraged and scandalized, and said, “Snow White! I told you everything! Why didn’t you say there were people listening?”  
“But there’s always people around,” Snow White responded, truly bewildered by her sister’s sudden eruption of anger.  
“Oh!” Maleficent screamed in shame and fury, “My mother beat you because you’re intolerably stupid!” Then she slapped Snow White, and took to the sky.   
Snow White’s hand flew over her heart, as if to protect her soul from such ugly wrath, and started to cry as the animals scattered and the three pixies flew into the treehouse. “Oh, no!” Snow White wept.  
“Why that evil thing!” Merriweather exclaimed. “I’d like to turn her into something, like a fat ugly toad! That’s what she deserves!”  
“Don’t be upset,” the green pixie reassured the weeping Snow White. “Maleficent is always that way!”  
“Can you imagine?” Flora commented. “Now she’s really overstepped her bounds! She has no business creeping around in the Princess Aurora’s bed, trying to lure her into doing wicked things!”  
“Oh, that’s what dark fairies do, isn’t it?” Merriweather added, “Wicked deeds! She’s corrupting the young princess, just as we feared she would from the beginning! Her curses didn’t work so now she’s found another way to be evil.”  
“We should go tell the Faerie Queen about this,” Flora said. “Curses are one thing, but fairies are supposed to stay apart from humanity, not seduce princesses! This is awful!”  
Snow White cried, “This is all my wicked stepmother’s fault!” She pulled a delicate, embroidered handkerchief from her cloak pocket, and after graciously dabbing at her eyes blew her nose in a way every princess would envy. “If she hadn’t enchanted poor, dear Father none of this would ever have happened! And poor Phillip! He’s going to marry a girl whose heart is enchanted and stolen by someone else. How will they ever get their happily ever after if Aurora is under a spell to be fascinated with my unstable half-sister? Oh, this is terrible!”  
“She must have been a wicked, dark fairy, too,” Flora commiserated. “No wonder Maleficent is so awful! And just imagine how it’s been for us! Your stepmother left her dreadful, ill-behaved child in our peaceful Fairyland, and turned it dark as her own evil heart while we sacrificed sixteen years of our lives raising and protecting the poor little princess from Maleficent’s cruel curses! Why, we’ve spent decades trying to deal with her, and all she does is find new ways to be fiendish! From casting curses to consorting and dancing around in the moonlight with devils, she’s always doing something evil.”  
“She’s not evil,” Snow White sniffed, “Just misunderstood and very confused. She’s always been very mischievous, with a naughty sense of humor. Somehow, she doesn’t know that she’s supposed to be good and find a husband of her own. Instead, she’s in love with Aurora and is talking her into doing wrong with her.”  
“But she is evil,” Flora said gently to the sobbing Queen. “There’s no way to change it. Why, years ago after cursing Aurora she called herself the Mistress of All Evil. She enjoyed it,” the pink pixie said sadly.   
“Flora is right,” Merriweather said, deriving a great deal of enjoyment from using their new, much fancier names aloud, “Maleficent is pure evil and it’s time to report her to the Faerie Queen. She’ll put a stop to her misdeeds.”   
“How?” Snow White asked.  
“Hopefully have her killed, or put in a bottle so she can’t hurt anyone ever again,” the angry little blue fairy exclaimed.   
Snow White sobbed and climbed down out of the tree. “Oh,” she wailed, “Whatever happened to my beautiful, sweet little fairy baby that I found in the garden? Why did she grow up to be such a monster? Why, oh why? Did I do something wrong?”  
“I’m sure it’s nothing you did,” Fauna reassured Snow White.  
“Because her mother was a monster,” Flora answered, and they comforted poor Snow White as best they could on their way back to the castle. “Dark fairies are just wicked,” Flora told her. “There’s nothing you could have done to change her.”  
Alone, Maleficent flew and flew, going as high as she dared, and then gliding back down in huge, sad circles, wondering what she should do. The thought that she should simply just go home, return to the Moors and leave the kingdoms of men to their own dreadful devices seemed the most attractive idea. But, she thought, not without her mother’s things. Yes, Aurora had been right about that. It was time to box them all up, and return home without delay.


	15. The Seven Murdering Dwarves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After setting their trap, the dwarves attack and kill Maleficent to steal back the magic belt. King John and the wizard use their magic to heal her, and put her in a state of undeath. Aurora decides to take Maleficent to the Baba Yaga, so that the Great Wild Hag can bring her beloved back to life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! The murder is violent and disturbing. But don't worry, Maleficent isn't really dead! She comes back!

Chapter 15  
The Seven Murdering Dwarves

“Thank you for being so understanding about my issues as well,” Phillip said, “I really think this could work between us, if we both try to help and support one another…”  
Aurora nodded, “Thank you for listening, and I’m sorry I woke you up at daybreak crying and screaming like that, but I never thought anything could go that badly!”  
“It wasn’t your fault, I’m sure of it,” Phillip assured her. “Poisons, potions, evil magic spells, there are any number of unusual things that were factors. However, it does sort of answer the question we were wondering. If she does feel that way, and Leonard has told me how he feels, then...”  
The wizard and the king met them as they walked together down the halls. “We are looking for your fairy godmother,” the sorcerer said. “The gift the dwarves gave her is cursed, and I need to remove the ill-fated enchantment before matters become worse. Do you know where she is?”  
“Yes, I do,” Aurora answered. “She is in the old queen’s chambers.”  
“Thank you,” the wizard said. “Let’s go remove this curse!” Aurora and Phillip followed them up the stairs, and they knocked on the door, which was locked. “Is she in there?” he wondered aloud.  
“She was upset this morning,” Aurora answered vaguely. She didn’t want to explain about the sleeping spell or the failed seduction.  
“We wouldn’t normally ask this, but could you go in and tell her to come out?” the king asked. “We cannot wait any longer. We need to simply remove the curse, so that we can concentrate on others matters.”  
The last thing Aurora wanted to do was speak to Maleficent at that moment, but she realized the necessity of removing the curse from the enchanted, jeweled belt. So she unlocked the door, and went in. The room was much as she had left it, with the windows wide open, but the secret chamber closed. So she had flown out. A cold wind blew in, and whipped the curtains and flowers around, causing some of the blossoms to fall to the floor. So Aurora closed the window, and then went back out of the room. “She’s gone,” Aurora told them.  
“Let’s go find her, then,” the wizard said. They turned and went down the stairs, discussing where they thought she might be, and Aurora, suddenly feeling tired from all the work the day before and rising early after only a few hours’ sleep, decided to go to her room and rest. The dwarves, who were still hidden behind large vases and plants, as unmoving and unobtrusive as the stones in the walls, watched them go. They knew Maleficent wouldn’t stay away from her mother’s evil magic chamber forever. She would be back.  
And appear she did, shortly after teatime. For some reason, Aurora had closed the window, so she was obliged to enter through the doors. The dwarves waited until she ascended the stairway, and glided silently over to the hidden recess behind the tapestry. When she pulled the tapestry aside, and went to open the door, the trap was sprung. The heavy iron net fell on her, and pinned her to the floor while the dwarves jumped out of their hiding places, axes ready in hand. The surprised fairy screamed as the iron burned her, preventing most of her spells. Six dwarves attacked the fairy while the seventh engaged her pet raven, chasing him away and out of her sight, knowing full well what might happen. Axes rose and fell, and quickly a thick pool of blood formed on the floor. Hacking through her wings proved to be harder and take longer than they thought, giving the evil fairy far too much time to shriek, as she huddled beneath her wings, using them as a shield. And shriek she did, in fury and pain, trying to cast spells on them at the same time. All the dwarves wisely stayed behind her back, where she couldn’t see them, hacking away at her wings, except Dopey, who was foolish enough to run around in front of her. All of a sudden, a thin, white elven hand emerged from under the wings and the ironwork, and with a flick of the fairy’s wrist, Dopey stiffened and fell down dead, covered in green fog. Doc’s axe amputated the offending hand, and the dwarves redoubled their efforts. Happy’s axe fell upon her head, cleaving her between her dark horns, which had become entangled in the iron net, just as they had been meant to. She shrieked again as the dwarves hacked off her feet and right arm, ending any remaining spells. Off went parts of her legs and wings, and one of her horns was shattered. The wicked fairy finally ceased her screaming as Happy’s axe fell across her throat. A second whack completely severed her head, and they erupted in a joyous cheer, and the evil fairy was silent. Axes were raised, dripping bluish-purple with fairy blood, and with a victorious howl the treasures were held aloft; the precious magic belt, and the wicked fairy’s head.  
The noise did not go unheeded, and everyone from several floors up and down heard the fairy’s shrieks and the sounds of battle. The royal family, almost finished taking tea in the parlor, arrived first. Snow White ran up the stairway to see the dwarves chanting and singing in victory, holding and passing around the bloodied belt, and a severed head, held aloft by her hair. Gruesome horror overwhelmed her, and Snow White screamed and screamed; there was blue-tinged fairy blood everywhere, especially all over the floor and each dwarf was covered from waist to toe. And the very thought of what was beneath their feet… she was aghast at the horror of it all, and fainted just as John, Phillip, and the sorcerer arrived at the top of the stairs. Although Snow White had fainted and was lying on the floor, the sight of the dwarves and their gruesome scene called for more immediate action.  
“Phillip,” King John ordered, “Go get my battle dressings and the men-at-arms! Now!”  
Phillip turned from the horrific murder scene, running to the emergency closet, as King John took an angry, disgusted view of the wicked dwarves’ glee. The gore stained belt was still being passed from dwarf to loathsome dwarf as they howled victoriously, laughing and reveling in their success. “Stop!” He ordered, but the dwarves ignored him.  
Beside him, the white-gowned wizard began to chant, long beard waving as he raised his staff and froze the scene. Nothing moved but himself and King John. With a second spell, the dwarves, their weapons, the belt, and the iron net all floated upwards. Frozen and floating towards the ceiling, the dwarves could do nothing, and the sorcerer prepared to cast another spell as Phillip returned, and handed his father a backpack full of emergency supplies for bandaging wounded soldiers. King John was careful, and kept things he might need stashed around the castle. Just because there hadn’t been a battle or a siege in a long time didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be.  
“Go distract your mother and the others,” King John told him. “Do not let anyone else up here!” Obeying without argument, Phillip lifted the unconscious Snow White, just as the-men-at arms were rushing up the stairs.  
Using his own magic, the king quickly bound her wounds, and reattached her head with swift, knowledgeable stitches, healing light flying from his fingertips and resealing flesh. While he worked, the wizard cast another spell. Using soul-binding and resurrection spells, the sorcerer forced her spirit back into the battered body, and bound her to it. A pale golden light shone briefly, and the loose collection of blood and bones became a person again. The sorcerer’s frozen spell affected everyone except himself and the king, so neither the dwarves nor the fairy could do anything. The men-at-arms formed a line at the top of the stairs, to keep anyone from entering, while the king worked quickly, reattaching severed body parts, as the wizard reassured him that fairies had much more resistance to necrosis than humans did, and that the severed parts would reattach on their own if they were firmly stitched into place while the freezing spell was in effect. The king was able to locate most of the severed limbs, but concentrated primarily on perfectly realigning her head and neck, and sewing up the enormous gash the dwarves had cleaved in the back of her head. Next he repaired her hands. He was dismayed to see that much of her wings had simply been pulverized. Unlike simply reattaching a foot, there were no visible pieces to be found, only great clumps of bluish-purple bloody masses of feathers on the floor.  
Finding the magic, cursed belt on the floor, the sorcerer pointed his staff at it. “Damnable thing, lose your accursed luster! Force of Cleanliness…” he recited a magic spell that was meant to disenchant the beautiful, jeweled belt, making it no longer a thing to fight and die over. But it held its negative enchantment; refusing to discharge its curse, and the wizard realized that the blood and soul power the thing had absorbed had already gotten past a simple magic dispelling. He tried another, much stronger spell, calling upon all the forces of celestial benevolence and noble justice to lift the enchantment from it. Divine white light emanated from his hands and staff, bathing the room in a prismatic brilliance brighter than any daylight, but the belt sizzled loudly in the puddle of blood, turning it black, smoking and hissing. Concern caused him to furrow his brows as he wondered what part in the great karmic tapestry of life this evil relic was yet destined to play, but then King John asked for his aid in saving the fairy, and that was more important than the magic belt. How he regretted his involvement with it!  
Alone in her room, Aurora thought she heard far-away screaming, when Diaval suddenly flew in through her window, and relayed his message of the dwarves’ attack, and that their lovely fairy friend was dead. She followed the raven quickly across the length of the castle to the base of the stairs that led to the little foyer and hallway that had become the ghastly scene of a bloody battle. Phillip was standing at the foot of the stairway with a sobbing Snow White, and men-at-arms were blocking the upper portion. The raven flew up, circled once, and cawed loudly. “What happened?” she asked. “Why are they preventing us from going up there?”  
“We are not to ascend the stairway,” Phillip told her. “Father told me to stay here and prevent anyone from entering. We must wait…”  
“What for? The dwarves attacked her, didn’t they?” Then Diaval swooped down and told her that the wizard and the king were wrapping up the fairy’s body. “Phillip! Stop trying to shield me from the truth…”  
“Dear, you really don’t want to go up there!” Phillip said emphatically.  
Then the men-at-arms stepped aside, and the old wizard descended, leaning heavily upon his wooden staff, bluish-tinged bloodstains all over his white robes. He stopped in front of Aurora and Snow White, and said, “You have my deepest apologies for ever having become involved with this. I have done what I could do to help, and I hope in the end I have done more good than evil.”  
Pushing past the wizard, Aurora saw the king emerging from a gruesome scene, carrying the fairy down the stairs, wrapped in the king’s blood-soaked cloak, his dark blue suit much darker in large, wet spots. She gasped in shock, and then screamed as she saw the still, pale fairy, and the hellish sight behind the grim-faced king who was carrying her. With a booming voice, the sorcerer ended his spell, so the dwarves unfroze and fell, clanging and banging to the floor along with all their weapons and the iron net. The wizard then handed Aurora a bag, and she took it unthinkingly. She walked with the king, followed by Phillip and the wizard, and a weeping Snow White, Diaval circling overhead.  
“It’s so awful,” wept Snow White, over and over.  
“Take the dwarves to the dungeons,” King John told the men-at-arms. The guards rushed in and seized the barely unfrozen dwarves and their weapons, marching them down the stairs. Aurora stared in horror as they were marched away, leaving a thick trail of bluish-tinged fairy blood behind them. The blood was dark reddish, mostly purple, and then the very edges sparkled and turned a deep blue with air contact. Every dwarven footstep was outlined in it, and she watched the glitter of Maleficent’s magic dissipating as her blood dried on the carpets, walls, and curtains. Then she abruptly unfroze and followed the king and the sorcerer down the halls to Aurora’s own room, and the king gently laid the wounded fairy upon her bed. “I am very, very sorry,” the king told her, as she beheld what had occurred. Maleficent was heavily wrapped and bandaged, sutures visible everywhere, peeking up over the bandages. While her left arm seemed almost uninjured, the right had been severed in several places; including just above and below the elbow, and the wrist. Aurora looked with horror at the stitches on her neck, and the bandages around her head. Her wings were destroyed, and one horn had been partially amputated. The king and the sorcerer had been unable to find enough pieces to put them back together.  
“We are very, very sorry,” the wizard said again.  
Stricken with grief, Aurora thought about the last time she had seen Maleficent alive. It had been just that morning, at the fateful moment of awakening, and the failed seduction. The last thing I ever said to her was that she was a cursed thing, Aurora thought. Why didn’t I just ignore the tone of her question, and realize that it was because she was under the influence of a curse from that horrible Dwarven gift? Why did I curse her more? Is this my fault? I told her I loved her and then not only abandoned her to a curse but added to it. My fault, my fault, my fault… kept running through her head. Even telling herself that she had nothing to do with the creation and gifting of the fateful jewelry failed to exonerate her in her own eyes. Now, what if she was really gone, forever? Sadly, she asked, “Is she still alive?”  
“Yes and no,” the wizard answered, “More like undead; neither alive nor dead, but in a state of suspended animation, with her spirit bound within the body. But she is also under a sleep spell. The kindest thing to do is not attempt to awaken her.” He put a hand on Aurora’s shoulder, “I am truly sorry for what has happened. We will do all we can to aid you and your fairy godmother. Whatever assistance we can offer will be yours.”  
“Can you heal her?” Aurora asked. She had a sudden urge to be sweet and giggle, like Snow White, or to faint in ladylike horror, but repressed it. To do so would have been silly and vapid, and she did not feel that way at all. She felt wholly different. If she had known such sensations had words, she would have recognized the rising force within as howling for vengeance.  
“We will try our utmost,” the sorcerer assured her. “By both of our efforts and a sprinkle of good luck, we were able to save her, and suspend her in undeath.”  
Aurora struggled with the feelings flowing over her, and felt like the pixies’ gifts were more of a curse. Too much beauty could be a problem, but this straightjacket on her soul, causing her to only feel cheerful, was chafing and horrible. Inside, she was at war, and both the old king and the sorcerer knew it. They had been invited to the fateful naming day celebration, eighteen years ago. Snow White had not attended because she was busy having a baby of her own. Rudyard the Wizard had cringed when he heard the blessings and curses, the curse seeming less burdensome to him than the vapidity and eternal cheerfulness which the other fairies had condemned the baby princess to. Sixteen years was too long to live with half a mind and limited emotional functioning. But no one had asked him. Nor did he feel inclined to interfere. That afternoon was certainly more interesting than such events usually were! So he had watched and waited in silence. The economic devastation wreaked upon King Stephan’s kingdom as the textile industry was destroyed by burning all the spinning wheels was considerable, and he watched also as the king became ever more heavy handed in putting down peasant rebellions. Stephan’s own people came to despise him. The wizard had wondered more than once if that was the real curse Maleficent had laid upon him. Did fairies comprehend economic havoc, he had wondered. He still wondered that. The smaller, simpler fairies certainly didn’t, but Maleficent was nothing like simple, and had been cross-threaded with humanity far too much for her own good. He watched with interest as Aurora began to realize that there was more to situations than had met the eye, and grappled with the question in her mind, as well as what to do with the ensorcelled, undead dark fairy. Her brow knit in unaccustomed vexation, and her heart overflowed with unsanctioned, unblessed sadness. She reached out and touched the visible stitches beneath the white bindings around Maleficent’s neck, and asked, “How bad is this?”  
The old sorcerer paused and sighed, “It was lethal. But John has a paladin’s holy healing touch, and I have some command of the undead. Working quickly together, we were able to first reassemble her corpse and then press her spirit back into it. Which is why,” he paused sadly, “That we ask your forgiveness. It was the best we could do, with no other options than to simply let her die. We chose to try.”  
She looked over at the old wizard, with his kind eyes, gray beard and worn robes, and the quiet, contemplative king. “I understand,” she said. “And I am grateful that you did choose to try to save her, and I am glad that you were there. But what is this undeath? I’m almost certain that her mother, the former queen, turned herself into a vampire. That’s not going to happen to her, is it?”  
“Indeed,” the king said, “It is not. We would not allow that to happen, at any rate, if we thought it was likely. The sleep spell will last for three days. If she has not arisen as a vampire by then, she is not going to. However, your guess about the former queen is sadly accurate, and it would be my unpleasant duty to prevent another vampire from being set loose in my kingdom. But let us hope for the best.” The wizard and the king looked at each other, and Aurora realized that they would kill the fairy before they would allow her to rise as a vampire, to prey upon the living.  
Aurora wondered then how she felt about that. She loved Maleficent more than anyone else she had ever known, and parting with her was an agonizing possibility. If she died, Aurora would miss her terribly, forever. But if she were to arise as a vampire, what would happen then? She would be just as lovely, of that Aurora didn’t doubt, but then what? Would she kill? Would Aurora help her, condone any bloodshed, so long as it kept her true love in some semblance of life? The sorcerer and the king had made their position quite plain, and she silently considered the possibility of what might happen if Maleficent did arise as one of the cold undead, and they moved to destroy her. Could Aurora simply stand back and allow them to? She didn’t know.  
It was then that Aurora noticed she was still carrying a blood stained bag. She looked inside, and saw the cursed belt lying wet and dark within, glittering evilly and seductively, daring her to take it out, simply wash the blood of her beloved off, and wear it. Everyone would stare at her, and desire her, as the most beautiful woman in the world… “Ugh!” she exclaimed, and threw it under the bed. “What do we do with that awful belt?”  
“What can we do with it?” King John asked the wizard. “Is it still cursed?”  
“More so than ever,” the wizard answered sadly. “Now it is not a curse of intent, but a curse of blood. I could not lift the enchantment.”  
“Leave it under the bed for now,” King John thought aloud, “And then we shall try to decide what we should do with this accursed object of discord.” He looked over at Aurora and said, “The final decision is yours, since it was hers.”  
“I can hardly imagine a more loathsome feeling than touching it,” Aurora answered.  
The king and the wizard scarcely left the fairy’s side for three days, and nor did Aurora or Diaval. She began to learn about healing magic and sacred herbs, while realizing their limits. The wizard and the king were more than happy to explain to her what plants and potions they used, and what they were made from. As she watched them, she recognized the white light spell she had inadvertently used before, and asked what it was.  
“It is a holy, healing touch,” John explained, “That comes from the goodwill and love in your heart. If you have felt it before, then you can learn to use it again. Time and practice will be required. The power came to you unlooked-for once, but eventually it will come to you when you will it.” He showed her the way the light came from the innermost part of the soul, and out through his hands. She realized that he must have had a tremendous amount of practice, both in healing and in cultivating a form of love for all living things. She tried daily, with some limited success, to transfer her own energy to her fairy friend, using the same arts. They also informed her on the evening of the third day that since Maleficent had not arisen on her own, wounds mysteriously gone, that she was not a vampire. The alternative left Aurora feeling almost as bad; she was dead, with her spirit earthbound.  
“What of the villains who have done this?” Aurora asked.  
“They are in the dungeons, and there they shall remain,” King John answered. “I would deliver a swift and appropriate justice at the edge of my men’s swords, but Snow White pleads for their worthless lives; claiming that they were only defending her from possible danger. The pixies and Snow White said that Maleficent attacked Snow White while they were talking together in the gardens. She may yet succeed in saving their skins, but they have forfeited all goodwill from me, and if they leave the dungeons alive will never again be welcome in my house or anywhere in my lands.”  
Aurora almost couldn’t believe her ears. “Maleficent was not plotting anything against her! I can assure you of that. Why does Snow White place those deceitful and greedy little men above her own half-sister?”  
“For reasons that are perhaps grossly misplaced,” the sorcerer answered, leaning on his staff. “Ways of knowing are complicated, and it is difficult to rise above a simple dichotomy of good and evil. No one is wholly good or evil, however it is fair to judge us by our deeds.”  
“Ignoring is also easily masked as forgiveness,” the king added.  
“Where did you learn your healing skills?” Aurora asked the king.  
“I learned the surgeon’s skill early in life, following my father’s battles. In the process, many of our men were wounded, and when I was yet a lad and too young to fight, I still did everything I could to help. In my efforts to heal the sick and wounded, the gods have favored me, and blessed my hands with a great gift. But I must confess that in the healing of elves and fairies, my experience has been less extensive.” He looked over at the wizard. “But Rudyard here is over eight hundred years old and immortal. He’s even died at least once that I know of and come back to life. I think he’s the one really responsible for the magic. I’m just the fellow with the needle and bandages.”  
Rudyard chuckled softly, “I think the king overstates his case!”  
“But,” Aurora queried, “What do we do now? You said that the king has a holy healing touch and that you had some experience with the undead. Surely you must both be very powerful. If you can bring people back from the dead…”  
Both of them smiled, and the wizard said, “At our age, no one wants to feel that decorated.” Then the sorcerer seemed to think of something, and said to the king, “Should I even mention it?”  
“How much do you love Maleficent?” the king asked with a sudden seriousness, heavily tinged with sadness.  
“With all my heart,” Aurora responded without hesitation.  
They looked at each other, and the wizard said, “Enough to give her half of your soul that she may live again? Even at great risk, cost and pain to yourself?”  
“Yes,” she answered. “I want to do whatever I can. I love her with all my heart! She is everything to me…” She touched Maleficent’s cheek, and wished that things had gone differently for them.  
“Then there may be a way, but it is not easy. It is the witch’s path, and the penalties for failure are heavy. It is not an option for the faint of heart.”  
“I’m not afraid. I’ll do it.” Indeed, she wasn’t. Part of the blessing and curse of the pixies had been that she should not know unhappiness, and Maleficent’s death would make her very sad indeed. Therefore, she reasoned with a light of hope, everything would work out so that she would find a way to save her! Of course, she thought with the delighted insight of a child discovering the operation of a simple device. And then, she assumed, they would get to be together again, and their happily ever after would come, by virtue of Clecie’s spell and true love’s kiss. She was meant to find a way to save her beloved fairy friend! This was of course, the way of things. There was not a doubt in her heart or mind that her success was ultimately assured.


	16. The Witch's Bargain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora begs the Baba Yaga to bring Maleficent back to life, and promises to serve her for seven years. The old hag values her privacy, and drives a hard bargain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side notes: The powerful magic spell King John is using is Cure Severe Wounds, from Dungeons & Dragons, but the other cure spells would look exactly the same, they just wouldn't heal as much damage as quickly.  
> In some spiritual traditions part of the soul is in breast milk, blood, and tears. I have really enjoyed adding bits of mythology and folklore to this story!

Chapter 16  
The Witch’s Bargain

In the work of healing the fairy and trying to save her life, the belt Aurora had thrown under the bed in disgust had been quite forgotten by the king, the wizard, and Aurora, busy as they were. But when the three fell asleep on the morning of the fourth day, after a nervous night of wondering whether the fairy might at last arise as a vampire, Snow White came in to bring them some food and tea. She noticed something dirty and blackish-purple tossed underneath the bed. It was a blood stained bag. She picked it up, and looked inside. There lay the precious belt, soaked bluish-black in Rose Red’s dried blood, glittering and calling to her. Snow White silently took the bag, and out of sight of the others, rinsed the blood off. There was the belt, undamaged and glittering as beautifully as ever. So Snow White put it on. How it glowed and shone with a glorious magnificence! It made her not only more beautiful, but look years younger as well! She admired herself, and delighted in looking at the wonderful, jeweled belt. “After all,” Snow White said sadly, “It is not like my poor, injured sister is going to have any use of it. I might as well keep it for her, until that time when she might awaken.” That was what she told John, Aurora, and the wizard, when they spotted her wearing it. Snow White was worried that Aurora might want to fight with her over it, and so at first sought to conceal it, but the magic belt drew the attention of everyone. They weren’t pleased, but despite their disapproving glances, the king and the wizard said nothing.  
“I would hardly try to take it from you,” Aurora told her, “I do not even want to see it! Throw it away,” she suggested, “Into the depths of the sea! It is an evil, cursed thing, and I would no more want to wear it than I would want to bathe in her blood.”  
“That does sound awful,” Snow White agreed. “But I’m just keeping it for her, when she wakes up. There’s no harm in that, is there?”  
“It is doubly cursed, with the fairy’s murder compounding the original misalignment, and I was unable to remove the dark enchantment of evil and greed that now resides within it,” the wizard said. “Wear it at your own peril.”  
Snow White didn’t like the sound of that, and changed the subject. “Well, why are we just sitting around moping? Why don’t we just take her to see the witch?” Indeed, they decided to do just that, and Snow White offered to go with Aurora. The pixies, who sympathized with both Snow White and Aurora, declared that they were coming along as well, to help keep their dear Aurora safe and just in case they needed some good fairy magic.  
“That should be about as useful as a stomach ache,” the wizard observed while smoking his long, wooden pipe.  
The three pixies were not pleased by the wizard’s comment, his smelly pipe-weed, or his attitude in general. “We pixies are good fairies,” Flora informed him. “We use our magic to help people, and to protect others, not to throw curses around!” She was already suspicious of him; he seemed to be far too partial towards wicked, evil, dark fairies for her liking.  
“At least we never created any cursed magic items!” Merriweather snapped at him.  
“Or indeed, anything else of value,” the wizard answered.  
When Phillip discovered their plan, he offered to go, too, as did Diaval. “A much better choice of traveling companions,” the wizard said to Aurora. “Choose someone who can handle a horse and a blade and the sense to know which end of each is which.” The pixies gasped in outraged fury and indignation, but Aurora and Phillip laughed, as did Snow White, who didn’t easily take offense at such things. She had no magic powers and was no good with a weapon and had never pretended to be. So they saddled up three horses, and set off into the forest.  
“Where exactly are we going?” Phillip asked.  
“Oh, I know where the witch lives!” Snow White laughed, “Right at the edge of the dairy pastures! This won’t take long, and we’ll be back in time for supper!”  
That didn’t seem very likely to Phillip and Aurora, but they went regardless. The old dairy woman answered the door, and greeted them kindly. They explained the situation, and although she gave them tea and lunch, said that there was nothing she could really do that the king and the wizard hadn’t already done, except maybe give Aurora a fresh supply of healing herbs.  
“But Granny Goodwitch, can’t you help her?” Snow White entreated. “I remember that day when I first found her, and you brought her back to life.”  
“That was different. Reviving a baby and bringing the dead back to life are not the same things! I cannot give her what she needs,” Granny said, “However there is a chance that the old witch in the deep woods can. Her trade is in life and death, and all who are born or die must pass through her red river. But the Baba Yaga is a dreadful, fearsome thing, and few who venture there ever return. Tales tell of her eating people, I would think well before deciding to go there and ask for aid.”  
Snow White and the three pixies looked very disappointed, but Aurora was not daunted. “Then let us go see the Yaga,” she said. “That must be the witch’s path that the wizard mentioned. Indeed, visiting a dairy is hardly a treacherous or dangerous endeavor!”  
“But the Baba Yaga is a fearsome monster,” Snow White exclaimed “She eats people!”  
“We cannot leave Maleficent the way she is,” Aurora answered, “Half alive and half dead. It must be one or the other, not undeath.”  
“It would seem the Yaga is our likeliest hope,” Phillip agreed. They looked over at Maleficent, who said nothing, her eyes closed and still sleeping as if dead. “I wish she could tell us what to do,” he added.  
“Maybe we should just go home,” Snow White suggested. “Perhaps she will get better over time, or the wizard might remember something.”  
“He sounded quite resigned to his powers, and that was why he sent us here,” Phillip reminded her. “If he or Father could have done more, they would have, and they have many other duties to attend to. Their power is in saving lives on the battlefield. An ordinary soldier would have died from her injuries, and only a fortunate combination of factors restored her to a half-life. I do not think there is any more they can do.”  
Snow White looked upon her son with displeasure, but he was already thanking Granny Goodwitch, and was leading the horse upon which Aurora sat, holding the injured fairy in her arms. Snow White thanked Granny again, and followed the others on her graceful white steed, colorful sashes, ribbons and flowers bedecking the mare’s mane and tail. Birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, and a few other animals came along with her, keeping her company in their own musical way, the pixies flying along behind. The raven flew silently alongside Aurora and the unconscious fairy.  
“Why don’t we just put her in a glass coffin?” Snow White suggested cheerfully. “Then you can continue to look at her and we need not venture off into the woods any further. And if she wakes up we will know.”  
“No,” Aurora said, shaking her head. She didn’t like that idea at all. Maleficent didn’t need a glass coffin. She needed a real life or true death. Aurora didn’t have to ask anyone to know that. She was deep in thought when they came to a fork in the road, and a battered wooden sign, which proclaimed in shaky, painted white letters, “Witch’s Forest, I’d Turn Back If I Were You!”  
“Oh, Phillip, what does that say?” Snow White asked. Phillip told her, and Aurora suddenly asked Snow White if she could read. “Oh, no,” the queen laughed in answer, “Why should I have to do anything hard like reading or math when I have a husband and children to do it for me?”  
“But reading that sign isn’t hard!” Aurora blurted out, “What if you’re lost by yourself?”  
“But I won’t ever be lost by myself!” Snow White laughed, and a bird landed on her finger, tweeting happily, while a deer family followed along behind her horse. The pixies giggled, too, in their whole lives, they’d never needed such skills! Good fairy spells were taught from mother to child, or grandmother to child, in the same wonderful sing-song way they always had. Only witches, wizards, sorcerers, and wicked fairies needed dusty spellbooks in which to store their arcane lore. Then Snow White giggled again and said, “When I was young, my wicked stepmother tried to make me study, but I cried so hard she stopped. Rose Red was different, and she liked listening to smoky, stinky old wizards talk!” The pixies laughed uproariously with her.  
“But…” Aurora thought aloud. “What if you need to know something…”  
“It’s really no use,” Phillip informed her. “Perhaps you should simply be glad that you did not share their fate, as you will never win this argument. No one ever has.”  
“Indeed,” the princess agreed with a shudder as they continued on, and Aurora kissed Maleficent’s cheek, whispering, “Once cursed and thrice blessed have I been by you! Thank you for teaching me to read!”  
They traveled slowly all day and into the night, when they came to a clearing in the woods, edged by a fence of bones and skulls on sticks, which began to blaze with a green and orange fire at their approach, bathing the clearing in an eerie light. In the middle of the clearing was a roundish, greyish hut with bright yellow chicken’s feet. The forest was strangely quiet, and they sensed that the deep gloom here was that of the Underworld, and that no bright sunrise ever rose to drive away the mists. Will o’ wisps flitted away in the distance, and the damp air smelled of intense age. Not just the faint aroma of faraway corpses, but the lingering scent of overturned earth and a heavy sense of plant-breath. Ages ago, different trees and shrubs had freshened the morning air, but here some of those same ones still did, and they smelled like ancient rains steaming up from the ground. Here, the dark night of the soul was eternal, and the dead walked the earth. Snow White screamed when she saw the skulls, and said, “Let’s go! Oh, this place is so horrible!” She looked around and noticed that all her little forest friends were long gone. No animals remained save the horses and the raven.  
“This has to be it,” Phillip said to Aurora, as they looked into the frightening yard at a hut made of mud and bones, standing upon chicken legs. There was simply nothing else it could be but the fearsome old witch’s home. No orc encampment or troll dwelling would stand upon chicken legs encircled by a fence of green and orange glowing skulls in an eternal twilight darkness- this was the Baba Yaga’s house. They advanced cautiously, looking for anyone who might be around, as he led the horses and she held on to the unconscious fairy. Suddenly from the air came an amazing and completely terrifying thing. A flying cauldron landed beside them. Snow White screamed and the horses neighed nervously, snorting and stepping backward as Phillip tried to calm them. A fearsome old woman clambered out of the cauldron, tossing back in her oar, a woven marvel of reeds and human hair. Smelling of pond muck, she was short and squat but incredibly strong looking, and wore a great hat made of tree limbs, skin and unknown fibers. Under a single bushy gray eyebrow, one eye was substantially larger than the other, and she seemed to inspect the world with it, rendering a skeptical and yet knowing view. Her long nose hung like a tree limb out over the water, with hairs poking out of her nostrils and protruding from the end, and her chin was long and pointed as well. Both her face and gnarled hands were liberally sprinkled with warts, some of which had long white hairs growing from them. Most frightening of all was her white goatee, floating freely on the breeze, especially when she gave them her one-eyed cackle. Her attire was indistinguishable, like a moonscape, a forest at night, or a hillside, and her fingernails were crinkly, brownish-black, and sticky. Aurora was silently frightened, but at the same time saw a glitter of white-gold, like the king’s healing magic, spark off the witch’s heels as she hit the ground after leaping from her flying cauldron.  
Snow White clasped her hands over her mouth to barely stifle another scream, and the horses neighed hesitantly, backing up and sniffing the air. Without Phillip there to reassure them, they would have spooked and run away as fast as possible. Aurora held tightly onto the unconscious Maleficent to prevent her from falling off the nervous horse and the three pixies turned and flew into the trees, far away from the terrifying old hag.  
“Oh, goody!” the old witch exclaimed, throwing her broom, made from human hair, back into the cauldron and rubbing her hands together, “A dead fairy! How much do you want for her?”  
“We aren’t selling her, we have come to you to beseech you to heal her,” Phillip explained.  
The witch looked very disappointed. “Oh. Let’s see her, then.”  
Aurora handed her to Phillip, and then slid down off the horse to stand beside him. The Baba Yaga inspected the fairy in Phillip’s arms, sniffing her hands, and slapped her legs, pulled on one of her horns, and pinched her cheek. “Hmmm…” the old woman said, smelling for the fairy’s breath, and then put her gnarled, hairy old ear above her lips. She remained that way for what seemed to the others like a very long time. Then the old woman abruptly straightened up and said, “Mostly dead. I’ll give you a black mare, three plump chickens, and a wooden funnel for her.”  
“Please,” Aurora entreated, “Your trade is in life and death. You said she was mostly dead. That means there is some life. Please help us heal her.”  
“Why?” the old witch demanded, fingering the one unbroken horn on Maleficent’s head. She stroked it greedily and thoughtfully.  
“Because I love her, and she loves me,” Aurora answered.  
“Do you now?” the witch said with a loud, chortling laugh, “How much?”  
“With all my heart and soul,” the princess replied unhesitatingly.  
“What for?” the old witch laughed.  
Aurora didn’t seem to understand the question. “I love her. What would I need a purpose for?”  
“To love, a soul must be not only strong, but wise. The tree of love grows from the twin rivers of time and suffering. Strength comes from the heart and soul. Does that sound like you?”  
Aurora looked over at Phillip, who nodded yes. “We are young, and so not yet wise, but we know enough to know that we need to learn, and are yet young and strong.” Feeling that she might have answered the riddle and maybe not, she added, “Love is its own reward. Please help us!”  
“Hmmm…” Baba Yaga considered, and went back to stroking the dark fairy’s unbroken, beautiful black horn, arching gracefully into a curl. “A black mare, five plump chickens, a wooden funnel, and a pair of the most beautiful, magical red dancing shoes you’ve ever seen. And that’s my final offer!”  
Snow White paused in curiosity about magical red dancing shoes, but Aurora was firm. “I will not sell her to you. I would rather take her home and hope that someday she awakens.”  
“Then I suppose I might agree to help you.”  
“Oh, thank you!”  
“But we have not discussed the subject of payment,” the Baba Yaga laughed. “What have any of you of value?”  
“If it is gold you want…” Phillip offered.  
“Not ordinary gold,” the witch countered. “I’ve no need for that. But,” she smiled, “What have you of magic equal to this great and onerous task?”  
“I have a magic ring,” Phillip offered.  
“Let me see it,” the Yaga said. Aurora held the fairy while Phillip removed his ring and handed it to the witch. She sniffed it, “From Rudyard; protection from evil and danger. Well casted, beautifully crafted, expertly enchanted, and very nice for you, but no use to me.” She handed it back, “What else?”  
Phillip fished around in his cloak and trouser pockets. He produced three pieces of silver, a tinderbox, a pocket knife, a shiny flask of liquor, and a silver timepiece. “That’s about it,” the prince said. He wasn’t about to offer his bow, arrows, or sword. “The horses only carry blankets, water and our lunches.”  
“So what are you here for, boy?”  
“It is my duty and honor to help my friends,” he answered.  
“We’ll see how long that lasts,” the witch answered, scratching her behind while inspecting the items he displayed. “Hmmm…” the witch said, grabbing the flask first. “This I want.” Then she seized the tinderbox, “Oh, these are always handy, you can never have too many tinderboxes… and this is of good quality…” Then she picked up the silver pocket watch and opened it up. She held it to her ear, and looked pleased. Then she sniffed it, and asked, “You have nice stuff. Who is this from?”  
“A very dear friend,” the prince answered vaguely, hoping the old witch wouldn’t blurt out any unnecessary details. Leonard had given it to him as a promise of unending love, loyalty and friendship. Aurora wouldn’t think it odd, but Snow White might make a scene.  
“Then I’ll take it,” the witch said, shoving it into her own pocket. “What about the rest of you? What have you of value?” She pulled at his quiver of arrows, “Any of these magic?” She started sniffing them, and then ceased.  
“I’m sorry, there are no magic arrows there,” the prince said, “Only ordinary ones.”  
“Isn’t your sword enchanted?” Snow White asked Phillip.  
“I don’t trade in magic swords,” the hag answered. “Those are the wizard’s area of expertise. Besides, there’s wolves and trolls in the woods; you might need it.”  
“Perhaps the horses,” Snow White suggested.  
“The horses go without saying!” the old witch barked back. “Of course I get the horses!”  
The witch sniffed, and smelling sweet blood and recent death, looked at the beautiful jeweled belt around Snow White’s waist and grinned. “What about that? I like that! Hahaha…”  
Snow White pulled her cloak tighter around herself, hiding the belt from Phillip and Aurora. “Oh, it’s special. Maybe you would like something else?”  
“The bejeweled belt, or your wedding ring,” the hag grinned and cackled, rubbing her greasy, bony old hands together in glee.  
Snow White looked distressed, but removed her beautiful, glittering ring, and said, “It’s a very rare diamond, surrounded by gold and mithril. It was made by elven jewel smiths, and very valuable.”  
“Aye,” the witch said, holding the enormous, heart-shaped diamond up to her good eye, and then switched off to the shrunken one. She read the scrolling inscriptions of lifelong joy and true love written in elf-silver upon gleaming gold. Then she cackled, putting the ring in her pocket. “Yes,” she agreed, watching Snow White hide the precious belt under her cloak, “A gift from the king’s heart is a treasure beyond price. I will take this, and give you credit for time served.”  
“I don’t think I brought anything,” Aurora said. The pretty jeweled baubles from Maleficent’s mother’s room had been set back in their boxes, and other than the dress she wore there was nothing of value on her. She hadn’t thought to bring any sort of payment.  
“Hmmm…” the witch thought, “Seven years’ service from each of you, and all your finger and toenail clippings. Plus,” she added, “A lock of hair from each of you, and all her tears,” she said, indicating the unconscious fairy, “And her unbroken horn!” They looked stunned, and she added to Phillip, “I’ll give you credit for time served for this!” and she took a swig off the flask. “Brr… Aaahhh!” Then she cackled horribly and belched.  
“Seven years!” Snow White exclaimed. “That’s so long!”  
“One for each dwarf, eh?” the old witch laughed loudly, enjoying watching Snow White’s scandalized expression while Phillip and Aurora stared blankly at the witch and then at each other. Ignoring the distraction, Aurora remembered their original purpose.  
“I will do it,” Aurora agreed.  
“As will I,” Phillip offered, after Aurora committed herself. “Whatever assistance I can provide, I will.”  
“The hair and nail clippings first,” the old witch insisted. Using her dirty old clippers, a nasty apparatus with noisy, rusty ratchets, the witch cut all their finger and toenails down to the quick, greedily saving every one. Next she snipped off locks of their hair, gloating and gleefully added them to the magic pouch. “And best of all,” the old witch cackled, grabbing a hold of the raven, “You’ve brought something to eat!”  
Diaval croaked and squawked in a panic, until Aurora said, “No, Grandmother, he is not for eating!”  
“Fine, then,” the witch agreed, after sniffing the raven and releasing him. He flew into the trees with a desperate screech. “Follow me then.”  
She turned and went towards her hut, which obligingly sat down instead of standing upon its big, yellow and orange-black chicken legs. Phillip and Aurora strode bravely behind the hag, the princess carrying the unconscious fairy, but Snow White hesitated, holding her gown daintily up out of the dirt and soot. Upon reaching the hut, she realized that the bolts on the doors and shutters were made of human finger bones, and that the lock on the door was a snout with many pointed teeth. Snow White did not want to go in there. An icky, sour smell wafted out as the hag entered, and the Baba Yaga immediately began barking orders to everyone, as she flopped down on her bed. “Snow White!” she shouted. “Bring me what is cooking in the oven! Boy! Fetch me my silver hatchet!”  
Prince Phillip looked around the hut for the requested silver hatchet, immediately realizing that the cottage was much larger on the inside than it was on the outside, and was filled to the rafters with bags, bones, pots, potions, tools, sticks, and all manner of bizarre objects, some of which he suspected might just be parts of people, while Aurora asked, “Where shall I set Maleficent?”  
“Maleficent? On the table,” the witch answered, her interest piqued by the name. She was calculating and gleeful, cackling as she fingered a well-worn, hollowed out white bone pipe, eyeing Aurora with a steady gaze that bored into her soul. “The dead fairy’s name is Maleficent?” Aurora noticed the old witch’s eyes light up as she nodded yes. “Now fetch that silver hatchet, boy! It’s by the fireplace! And where’s my supper, Snow White?”  
Snow White was in fact frozen in horror. She had seen dirt and piles of junk before, the dwarves were avid collectors of useless wooden and metal items in various states of disrepair, but this was something else. Cages filled with bones hung from the ceiling, and jars filled with frightening animal pieces and human body parts were everywhere. The cottage was filthy, and a cauldron over the low, hot fire was bubbling over with something evil-smelling. She watched Aurora set the nearly-dead fairy gently on the witch’s table, and Phillip had finally located the requested silver hatchet near the stinky cauldron.  
“Snow White! Where’s my dinner, you old slowcoach?”  
Queen Snow White had not been ordered around in many years, and wasn’t taking much of a liking to it now. The thought of being here in the filthy, disgusting little hut for seven long years was intolerable. Seven years. Seven years! Doing what? Slaving away for the horrid old crone and being ordered about? Why? For a dead woman? True, the dead woman had once been her dear little sister, her baby-pet, the foundling she had discovered one early spring morning abandoned upon the rubbish heap, whom she had adored and played with, once upon a time, long, long ago. But they had grown up, and gone their separate ways for nearly forty years. What had returned to her was not the naughty but adorable little flying dress-up doll she used to play with, but a dangerous, unpredictable, known killer who had brought dissent and disharmony in her wake, and had seemed bent upon continuing her mother’s vile work. From all reports, the Wicked Queen had transformed herself into a vampire, and then jealously killed every beautiful maiden in the kingdom, and surrounding countryside, so she could drink their blood and so remain beautiful herself, forever. Despite what John said, it was possible that the dwarves really were trying to save her from Rose Red rediscovering her mother’s evil spells, and trying to kill her. After all, she had slapped her in the treehouse! Snow White wanted to love Rose Red, but there was just so much wrong with her. Indeed, the entire situation was bizarre! To think, Rose Red had claimed that Aurora had awakened her from a sleeping death spell with true love’s first kiss! That couldn’t be, Snow White thought. What an absurdity! Everyone knew that you were supposed to be awakened from a sleeping death spell by a handsome prince, not your former boyfriend’s daughter! Besides, Aurora was in love with Phillip, and they were going to get married and have their happily ever after, without the fairy around to ruin things. Unless not only was Rose Red nasty and deviant but Aurora was just as icky and sick as the fairy was. Maybe they deserved their nastiness together. Deserved or not, she thought, Rose Red was dead, and so was poor, harmless little Dopey; her dear Dopey! He had always had a special place in her heart. Such a shame how things went, she thought sadly to herself. Using a giant ladle she checked what was in the cauldron, and a huge pair of stained underpants came up, along with some ancient-looking stockings; clearly the source of the ghastly smell. She shuddered and dropped the ladle, socks, and the enormous bloomers. She was not inspired to work quickly as she checked the oven and then brought the old witch a large pan of something that looked like breaded bones. To her horrified surprise, the witch ate the entire thing in a second, smacking her lips and then belching loudly. Snow White was shocked by the utter lack of manners the witch displayed. At least the seven dwarves were grateful, she thought. The old hag was horrid and nasty. Everything in this dreadful little cottage but her own son was icky!  
“Now,” said the witch, setting her pipe aside for later and slowly dragging herself up off the bed. She cackled, relishing every moment, as she approached the table, “Hand me that hatchet, boy.”  
Prince Phillip handed her the little, shining silver axe while Diaval, hiding in a corner, suddenly cawed a warning that the witch was about to cheat them. Phillip looked at Aurora, as the witch turned Maleficent’s head, and raised the axe. “Wait, wait!” Aurora said, stepping between them. She realized the raven was correct; the witch was going to cleave the entire horn off. “We must make them look even! One must not be shorter than the other!” She knew quite well that once one was gone, there would be no alternative but to remove the other. Whatever magic this creature had in mind, she would have effectively added more than fifty percent to her ultimate ending, and the fairy would be left with nothing when she awoke.  
The Baba Yaga looked at her in considered annoyance. “Very well,” she purred, “You do it.” The witch was confident that Aurora would not have the strength to wield the axe, as she set it in her hands. “The horn was part of our agreement,” she reminded them.  
“You hold her head to the side,” Phillip interrupted, “And I shall do it.” Aurora handed him the axe, and with the witch looking angry, and Snow White simply horrified, Aurora gently held the sleeping fairy’s head perfectly still at the requested angle, and Prince Phillip eyed, readied, and aimed. It was a sharp, jagged angle, which would leave her with an arch and little width. A dwarf must have been swinging for her skull when he missed and cleaved there, and Prince Phillip had to match it. Aurora watched nervously; it was a difficult cut that would leave a maximum amount of exposed tissue. With one decisive chop, the silver axe cleaved the upper portion of the horn off, neatly matching it to the other one. A shudder went through the unconscious fairy, and her body jerked, and her hands shot up reflexively, shaking. Blood spurted out where the cut had been made, along with a sparkling, golden, fluid-like light. Spurting blood meant that there was still a beating heart, however faint, Aurora realized with hope. But Maleficent was not in any condition to lose any more blood or power, and so Aurora held her hands over the injured fairy’s wound, to try to staunch the flows, while the witch seized up the amputated part with diabolical glee. The Baba Yaga danced around with it, noisily sucking the blood and marrow out, and Snow White screamed in revulsion and horror, running out of the hut and off into the woods.  
The Yaga paused her dancing long enough to say to Prince Phillip, “Your debt is paid, boy. Now go after that shrieking fool, and come back again in exactly seven years!” She laughed shrilly, and over her demonic glee could be heard the terrified screaming of Snow White, already lost in the woods. “Help! Oh, help!” her voice echoed through the forest.  
“Go,” Aurora said. “Do as the witch says, and return in seven years.”  
He paused, not wanting to stay but not wanting to go, either. “But, you need help…” Who needed him more? He was torn, and frozen in the moment.  
“Go,” Aurora told him. “Just come back!”  
With a last reflexive action, he tossed her his pocket knife, and said, “Be strong, until we meet again!”  
She caught it and said, “Until we meet again.”  
Then, a piercing shriek of panicked horror came from Snow White, who was completely helpless, and with a last look at Aurora, who chose to come here to save someone she loved, he ran out the door to save his mother. It slammed behind him and locked itself, with a mocking laugh, echoing the witch. Aurora held the bleeding fairy’s wound to her breast, staunching the flow against herself, and asked, “Will you heal her now, Grandmother?”  
“Huh? What?” the witch asked, distracted from her licking of the luscious horn.  
“Please, will you heal her now?”  
“What? No, you’re going to do that.”  
“What?” Aurora exclaimed. “I don’t know how!”  
“You said you loved her with all your heart and soul.”  
“I do!” Aurora answered with a barely controlled burst of mixed emotions. Her eyes welled up and her nose tingled, but not with cold. Confusion and hope twirled and jumped around together within her heart. Her lower lip began to tremble and so she bit down firmly to restrain it.  
“Then act like it. Take care of her, or take the horse and chickens, and leave her to me. She is even more delicious than I had dared dream!”  
Aurora burst into tears when she realized the poor bargain they had made with the witch, but was at a loss as to what to do about it. She cried over her situation, and then quickly realized that tears were pointless, and using Phillip’s pocket knife, cut a little piece from the hem of her own dress, and made a bandage over the bleeding horn. Ceasing her licking of the severed horn, the Baba Yaga stood beside Aurora and said, “If you want me to eat her, leave her on my table. If you would rather keep her, find her a place on the floor.” Weeping, Aurora took the witch’s dessert away as quickly as possible, and hid with her in a corner, wondering if the witch were simply going to eat them anyway, taking her sweet old time about it. She cried for a few minutes, wondering what to do, until it occurred to her that there were some almost clean fresh bear and sheep skins lying about, and that if they were to be in this terrible place, the first thing to do was to make somewhere to sleep. She arranged the skins, and laid Maleficent on top of them, trying to make her comfortable. Then, before Aurora could lie down as well, the witch began to give her orders. “Finish my laundry, and clean the cauldron out. Then you can sleep.”  
Doing the witch’s laundry was a horrible task indeed, and the terrible smell in the house was the odor of woolen socks and stockings stewing away, along with several pairs of sweaty looking long underwear and some nasty bloomers. It was late before Aurora had finished washing, drying, ironing, and folding the witch’s laundry and dumped the huge cauldron of stinking water out. After cleaning the cauldron, her head was swimming with the stench, and feeling lightheaded, lay down on the furs with Maleficent. Exhausted, she pulled her cloak over them, and whispered, “Please don’t die. Please wake up, and save me!” But the fairy lay still as if dead, while Aurora’s tears wetted her pale, lifeless cheeks.  
She awoke prior to the dawn by being prodded and poked with the Yaga’s staff. “Get up, girl. Make my breakfast!”  
“What do you eat for breakfast?” Aurora asked, rubbing her eyes.  
“Slugs. Catch ‘em, roll ‘em around in the dirt and they go down no problem. The dirt cuts the slime.”  
Aurora pulled herself out of the bear and sheepskin nest and went outside into the eerie morning mist. Sure enough, there were plenty of slugs, and taking a stick, she rolled them around in the dirt until they were covered. Not wanted to touch them, she skewered them on the stick and brought them to the witch. “Is this what you wanted?” she asked.  
“Ooohh,” the witch admired. “You serve them up fancy!” She ate the slugs in one mighty slurp, commenting, “But in the end, it all makes a turd! Hahaha!” She then commenced giving orders. “Today you wash the rest of my clothes, clean the yard, prepare my food, and see that everything is in order. When I return I will inspect your work.” So saying, she jumped into her flying cauldron and was off into the air, using her broom of human hair as an oar. All day long, Aurora slaved away at the witch’s hut. She cleaned, cooked, and kept an eye on the fairy, who never moved. Aurora cooked what amounted to a feast, and when the witch returned, she again flopped down on her bed, and demanded to be served her dinner. As she had the night before, the Baba Yaga ate the entire meal in seconds, greedily and messily, smacking her greasy lips. Then she took a long swig of something from her favorite mug, the top half of a sawed-off fairy skull, two gold coins inset where the eye sockets would be. The horns kept the round cup upright, so it didn’t fall over, and the indentation for the nasal cavity was where she leaned her wooden spoon. Something like smoke or steam was rising up out of it.  
“What am I to eat?” Aurora asked, looking in horror at the macabre drinking horn.  
“What did you make for yourself?” the witch asked. “What did you feed her?” she inquired, pointing at Maleficent.  
“There is nothing to feed her!” Aurora cried, “And no way to do so! What shall I do, when I cannot even wake her?”  
“Then, you stupid girl,” the witch answered, licking her lips, “When she dies I shall eat her, and then when you die I shall eat you, as well. Seven years hence when the prince returns, I shall eat him, too.”  
“But, but…” Aurora sniffed, ready to cry, “I’m a princess… a queen…”  
“And I’m a three million year old goddess who likes to eat!” the witch snapped, picking up a half-burnt, filth-encrusted old pipe and lit it with Prince Phillip’s tinderbox, which she then proceeded to use as an ashtray. “I like smoking, too,” she added, admiring her own billowy puffs and smoke rings, which floated in the direction of her pipe collection, which was hanging on the wall over her bed. Smoking instruments had been created from a variety of bones, horns, and wooden shapes. There was even a three-pronged and bowled utensil made from a turkey foot, so the witch could inhale three separate types of dried leaf at the same time. There was also what appeared to be a wasps’ nest covered in metal, and the wooden carving of a man on his knees. The bowl was his head, and the mouthpiece was the anus. Three fat, horned toads sat with the witch on her bed, croaking noisily.  
Aurora began to cry, and wondered whose terrible idea it had been to come here. First the king and the sorcerer, and then the old dairy woman had told them to go to the witch… Had they been trying to rid themselves of her? After all, the sorcerer had given Phillip a ring of protection from evil, so he might be guaranteed to escape, but not necessarily her… No of course not… Or maybe his family really hadn’t liked her at all! Aurora’s blessing of never feeling sad was sorely challenged by her current circumstances. The blessing made her want to run away and feel happy and free somewhere else, away from the wicked old hag who ate people, and the conflict was creating confusion. She continued to cry, and put her arms around the unconscious fairy. “Please wake up,” she whispered into her ear. Yet there was no reply, so Aurora just held her and cried, once again wetting the fairy’s silent, beautiful face with human tears. She would have liked to sleep that night, but it was not to be. The combination of the witch’s incredibly loud snoring, and the house swaying sickeningly on those chicken legs kept her awake. When the horrible noise and motion finally ceased the next morning, Aurora felt terrible. She took a little water from the canteens the horses had been carrying, and then gently put a little in Maleficent’s mouth. Then she poured a little more, and wondered if it were too much. Pouring water into her lungs wouldn’t do any good at all, and Aurora wasn’t sure where it was going. But she thought that she detected a slight cough, which she took with great hope to mean that she was still alive. “Beloved,” she whispered softly, so the witch wouldn’t wake up or hear, “Please awaken. Please help me.” She tried kissing Maleficent, on the forehead and the lips, wondering if that would break the sleep spell. Maybe, she worried, Maleficent thought that Aurora didn’t love her anymore, and that her kisses no longer worked. Did she truly believe that Aurora had wanted to steal that accursed belt? That thought made her weep anew.  
“What are you expecting her to do?” the witch laughed. “Arise from death to save you from your own simplicity? Now, your fate and hers is in your hands alone. Is it that hard to see that you must do the work, and care for her as you would a newborn child, for that is about how much use she can be to you? But since you were cursed with ignorance by imbecilic pixies, I will spell it all out for you. Nurse her. Wash her wounds and the bandages. Where the spiritual energy goes, physical reality will manifest itself soon after. Call back her spirit from across the river of the dead with your own, and welcome her once again into the land of the living with part of your own soul.”  
“How?” Aurora asked, completely mystified about what the witch was talking about. “Please tell me how. I cannot guess.”  
“Didn’t anybody ever teach you anything useful?” the witch asked in amazement.  
“Apparently not,” Aurora answered sadly.  
“Absolutely pathetic,” the witch said, shaking her head. “All right then. Now watch, and learn.” So saying, the witch took some long dried bones of a bird out of one of the cages, and held the skeleton tenderly in her hands. She closed her eyes, and Aurora wondered what she was doing. Then, the witch having decided what song to sing, started a soft chant, that stunned the princess in its beauty and simplicity. That was when the bones began to flesh out, and the creature began to come into being. Shiny black feathers formed, and the tail fanned out, shapely and strong. Then, when the raven had almost fully formed in her hands, she gently blew breath into it. Flapping awake and aware, the raven sat on her hands and looked around, immediately spotting the other raven who was watching her in stunned amazement. The witch motioned her off in that direction, and Diaval was quite surprised to have a beautiful raven lady sitting there beside him. Her feathers were shiny, black and dark, as were her feet and eyes, which sparkled. She asked him where she was, and he shyly introduced himself.  
“See?” the witch said, eyeing Aurora to see if she had learned anything. “I should think the fairy would be more important to you than old bird bones.”  
But I don’t have that kind of magic, the princess thought sadly. I’m just an ordinary girl that magical things have happened to. Then it was that during her wretchedness, Aurora noticed as she glanced down at her ripped gown, a thin glimmer of silver glittering on the exposed flesh of her nipple. Something clicked, and she realized that the silver glittering was a bit of cording, a frayed edge of her spirit rubbed raw by suffering, and that if she loved the fairy enough, she could share part of her soul.  
Holding her beloved in her arms she rubbed her nipple gently against the fairy’s cheek, and then finally tilted Maleficent’s head, and hoped. She wasn’t sure what the fairy felt, if anything, but Aurora felt a weary soul stretching that seemed to come from everywhere in her body, and finally emanate at the very tip of her nipple. Aurora sang to her lovely fairy friend, until she fell asleep, and then awoke the next morning, just as tired as when she had fallen asleep. Although she was still worn out, she felt again that the nursing experiment should continue. This time she felt an unfamiliar swelling, and wondered if she saw a silvery glitter again, but was too tired to worry about it, as she went about a day’s dreadful chores for the witch, cleaning, cooking, and sorting gruesome bits and pieces from the witch’s “treasure boxes.” She noticed that although it was day, it was never truly light. Within the witch’s domain it was always the dim, bluish twilight of the underworld, or the blackest of nights. So she tried as best she could to accomplish her chores before there was nothing left to see by but the firelight. Exhausted, she kept working, and once again kissed the beautiful dark fairy, told her that she loved her with a song, and nursed her. To her surprise, the next morning, when she awoke, the fairy’s uninjured hand was on her breast. Aurora was overjoyed, but tempered her enthusiasm with the thought that perhaps it had been that way before, or that maybe Aurora had moved it there herself during the night. As the day wore on and she did ever more cleaning and cooking for the hideous old witch, she felt her soul shifting, growing, and finally, solidifying. That night when she lay down with the silent, nearly lifeless fairy, she put the pale rose red lips to the breast, and felt liquid silver dripping from herself to the fairy in her arms. To her surprise, she felt the fairy’s tongue lapping delicately at her nipple. Gently, Aurora held her, and delighted in the realization that she was alive. Hope returned to her like a ray of sunshine piercing a dark room, and her soul felt as though it was rising and singing, while sharing a warm, glowing piece of herself. Love is a beautiful thing, Aurora thought, feeling that proof of life in her arms. She held Maleficent tightly to her, and kissed her forehead gently, as she fell asleep. In the morning, she once again gave her beloved the liquid soul-stuff, and thrilled with the fact that the fairy was alive! She would have held, sang to and loved the beautiful fairy all day, but the witch ordered her up, for another round of cooking, cleaning, and grueling chores. After all, the witch had “treasure boxes,” that Aurora would have rightly called junk buckets, the entire contents of which needed to be sorted, so that the witch could tell at a glance which cans held beans, rusty nails, or hairballs. It was, as the witch emphasized, very important to know the difference. Aurora simply agreed.


	17. Prince Phillip and Queen Snow White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prince Phillip tries to tell his mother he is gay with no success.

Chapter 17  
Prince Phillip and Queen Snow White

Poor Prince Phillip wandered in the woods for the entire night, looking for the panicked Snow White. Occasionally he heard her screams in the distance, but she wouldn’t just stand in one place and shout so that he could find her, she kept running around in random directions in the dark, making it nearly impossible to either find her or mark which way he was going. The wizard’s ring of protection saved him from what might otherwise have been some nasty, leg-breaking falls, but by the time he found Snow White, stuck in a bog and weeping loudly, he was completely and utterly lost. Calming Snow White down took some time, and it was well into the morning before Phillip had heard the end of her trauma and terrifying ordeals. It seemed that after she had witnessed the horrid spectacle in the cottage, and run out, the fiery skulls on the fence had begun laughing at her, and so she had to run as far as possible away from them because she thought they were chasing her. She was also aghast at Phillip for his participation in the goings-on. “How could you do that?” Snow White wept anew.  
“I didn’t see any better choices,” Phillip answered honestly, “And there wasn’t a whole lot of time to think about it.” It took all day for them to find their way out of the swamp and back to the road which led to the castle, and half of the next day to walk all the way to the palace. They camped by the roadside, and were grateful for the kindness of some fellow travelers who shared their food and shelter with them.   
Snow White was never more relieved than when they arrived back at the palace, and she was able to clean up and tell her terrifying tale. The pixies too, had found their way out of the terrifying old witch’s domain and back to White Castle, where they lamented the loss of poor, sweet Aurora. Phillip told them that he and his brothers were going back to the hag’s hut to rescue Aurora and Maleficent before the old Yaga ate them. Terrified for their safety, Snow White tried to discourage them, but they went anyway. After several perplexing days of searching the forest for where he remembered the hut to be, he realized that time was altered as well as place, and so while it may take an afternoon’s walk one day to reach the hut from the castle, at other times it might take more than a day. Finally, they found the spot he was certain the strange little cottage had been, and finding only bones and ashes, he realized that the hut must have gotten up on its chicken legs and run away. Although they tried to track the footprints, they were lost when the trail entered a stinking, boggy swamp. Insects dove at them and sucked their blood, bedeviling both man and horse. In despair, Phillip realized that there was nothing more they could do. Dejectedly, they returned to the castle, and reported what they had discovered. There was a slight glimmer of hope however, when the wizard told him that although he would not see his friends again for a long time, all was not lost. He should return to the spot in seven years, and if Aurora was wise and brave, he would surely find her there. In the meantime, if he truly wanted to help both his father and Aurora, he should go to Stephan’s castle, providing much needed supervision of contentious and ambitious nobles in order to prevent insurgencies in her absence. A lot could happen in a year, the wizard pointed out, and even more in seven. While King John had sent a few men to control access to Fairyland’s treasures, they could not prevent mob looting if the public realized that Maleficent was dead. Phillip agreed with the wizard, and consoled himself with the thought that although he was going to Stephan’s dark, destroyed, lonely keep, he would also be the one to organize and design the rebuilding. He brightened up considerably at the thought, and remembering how much Aurora had enjoyed White Castle, he had a few ideas. She would be so surprised and delighted when she saw it again! Snow White however, held out no such unrealistic notions, and set about looking for another fiancée for her son.   
“Mother,” Phillip said, “There is something I must tell you. Aurora was my friend, and the only girl I could really trust and talk to. I could see myself living with a good friend, but I will not simply marry a princess…”  
“Oh, don’t worry!” Snow White laughed. “Surely there is another girl as pretty!”  
“It is not concerning the subject of attractiveness,” Phillip answered, “I prefer the company of men.”  
“Well, who doesn’t?” Snow White laughed.   
“That is not what I meant,” Phillip persisted.  
After trying unsuccessfully to tell his mother about his situation, Phillip simply refused to participate in any gala events designed to introduce him to all the eligible princesses in the surrounding kingdoms. Instead, he announced his intention to study sorcery with the wizard, and that he and his father would be leaving to arrange the rebuilding and settle the accounts at Stephan’s old castle. “I’m not a child anymore,” he told Snow White, “And I need to find something useful to do with myself.” Studying with the wizard and accompanying the king on various errands would also keep him far away from home, and any debutante balls orchestrated to attach him to a princess.


	18. Travelers of Time and Space

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mysterious strangers appear to help the unconscious fairy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler alert! Yes, it is the character from the 1937 Sleeping Beauty!

Chapter 18  
Travelers of Time and Space

Aurora was working in the yard, sorting more of the witch’s “treasure boxes,” junk buckets of rusty nails and bolts into piles of differently sized rusty nails, bolts, nuts, washers, and miscellaneous fasteners that the witch wanted her to use to repair her fence. There were places where the wood had grown weak with age, the rusty chains had failed, and the skulls were wobbly. She was performing this task while wondering why a fence was even necessary, when an unfamiliar raven landed upon a skull, and cawed a greeting. Looking up, she saw two visitors, hooded and cloaked, approach the witch’s hut. One was robed in black, with a tall hood and a veil disguising the wearer, the other was beautifully dressed in gold and green, with splendorous white and glittery silver wings uncovered behind her criss-crossed and tied robes. She pulled the beautifully embroidered and tasseled green hood down to reveal a cascade of golden ringlets, and she looked sweetly over at Aurora, gave her conspiratorial wink, and smiled. She was so wonderfully lovely and seemed so friendly that Aurora timidly smiled back, wondering who the lovely woman and the mysterious stranger were. The old hag shouted at them to come in and close the door. Then the witch slammed the windows shut. Aurora sighed, looking at the closed up hut and then back down at the junk buckets. Well, that was that, she thought, although her curiosity burned.  
Inside, the witch snapped, “What are those for disguises? Shouldn’t have let the little princess see you! Careless, careless!”  
The figure swathed in black pulled back her hood, to reveal small dark, thick horns, upon which were placed two gold rings, holding up a veil which had been used to shield her face. She flipped the veil up, and looked back at the witch with the large, glowing yellow eyes of a cat; black pupils only thin slits in the golden expanse of iris. Her skin was a very light green, and her fingers were extraordinarily long, tipped with red-painted claws, and she had the nervous habit of rubbing and flicking them. She passed her staff to the other hand and said softly, “No one knows we are here, or who we are.”  
“They don’t, eh?” the witch spat, “Your sister just added to her cult following.”   
The horned woman set down her robe and staff upon the witch’s table, and stared angrily at the lovely lady in green and gold, who giggled and shrugged. “What did you do that for?” she hissed. “You could ruin everything!”  
“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” the white winged woman laughed merrily. Then she asked the witch, “So, are you going to offer us tea?”  
“Tea,” the witch repeated and cackled, turning to the brew she kept in a small cauldron hanging on the far left of the fireplace, “Yes, tea.”  
“Magic like this is not frivolous,” the horned woman reminded her sister. “You could destroy or disrupt something unforeseen!”  
“Oh, it all turns out the same!” the lovely winged woman said in an exasperated fashion, little sparkles flying from her fingertips, and sat down upon a chair at the witch’s table, “Do let’s have a nice time, with no shouting.” Then she paused and laughed, “So, what tasty treats do you have for the Mistress of Evil and her dear, sweet sister?” She twirled her hair around her finger and let her twinkling laughter fill the hut with light and sunshine. With a giggle, and a flick of her wrist, soft music began playing, and it was suddenly springtime, the fresh, floral scent of a new morning dawning sweet and true filling the cottage. Birdsong accompanied by Nature’s own orchestra began, and the air around the beautiful angel glowed with tiny rainbows and sparkles.  
“A great big helping of humble pie,” was the witch’s caustic answer, and the angelic lady looked quite disappointed, the music stopping and light going dim once more.  
“I’ll thank you not to do that,” the regal, horned woman said to her giggly, golden-haired sister, pulling her long black dress up to walk gracefully across the Yaga’s floor. “I will let you know when I require you to sing.” She was extraordinarily tall and thin, with a longish chin, and fey, angular cheekbones and full, rosy lips that matched the purple and red slips layered under the heavy black gown. Her face could be quite plain, when she was stern, but when she looked happy or thoughtful, an unusual form of beauty was revealed. It was her bewitching, inhuman glowing yellow eyes, flecked with gold sprays and green auras that terrified. “We came on a far more important errand.” The lovely seraph in gold and green sighed while the witch served her a cup of tea in a wooden mug, and something very unappealing in a flat, bone bowl that looked like an elephant or mammoth’s hipbone polished out to a soft sheen. While the ancient dish was subtly attractive, what lay on it was grayish-green, and looked like day-old oatmeal rolled in a seaweed crust, smelling very unappetizing. The angel took one sniff and wrinkled her nose in choking disgust; the spoon in the bowl remaining untouched.  
The witch cackled while the horned woman glided over to the pile of skins upon where lay the fallen fairy. The cat eyed stranger sat down beside Maleficent, and regarded her condition. “Will you allow me to cast a spell?” she asked the witch. Her skin had taken on a curious light green hue, and her long fingers explored the bluish-violet stains under the bandages on the fallen fairy’s neck.   
“Don’t wake her,” the witch barked, in her usual, unfriendly way. “Let the princess awaken her, and let them have their love, and their hope of a happily ever after.” The old hag saw the angel’s eyes roll, and then added, “They’ve not got much else, if you want to know.”  
“It all turns out the same,” the beautiful golden haired angel proclaimed to her dark sister. “We’re here, and I should wish not to be, in this dirty little hovel. Dearest Aurora awakens her, and heals her. Cast thy gift, and let us be on our way! There are many things I need for you to do before the sun sets. There are princes to be charmed and kingdoms to claim, and here we still are and I’m weary already.” She sighed again, and tasted the tea. It wasn’t good, but it was drinkable.  
Light, leafy spring green fingertips touched the fallen fairy’s horns, one wrapped expertly by King John, the other tied up with part of Aurora’s dress. “She’s bleeding magical power,” was the decree. She unwrapped the soft blue fabric the princess had wound up as best she could, and also removed the king’s bandage from the other horn. Glowing, liquid light began to seep out, and the yellow eyed lady gently replaced the old bandages with warm, honey-scented magical gauze. “I did not imagine that her injuries were this bad,” she said softly. “I had heard the stories, but never did I think it was this.” Her green fingers lightly stroked the still fairy’s wounded hand, sadly touching the stained bandages at the wrist and elbow, where the dwarves had done their butchery. “Would that I had some healing art, but alas, I have none. I have not even the talent to sing to her soul. All my powers, and the most I can do is give her some magical energy. But that I will, and trust that what should be, shall be.” If her enormous, yellow eyes could have shed tears, she would have at that moment, but just as her hands were unsuited for helping or healing, her soul and eyes were not meant for sorrow. She breathed deeply, and began to hum. It was a soft, low vibration that began in her throat but made her horns echo it and begin to glow and reverberate. Their magic was within those horns, and the wounded one had lost much. Leaning forward, she lay her cheek against the unconscious fairy’s, and kept humming, the thrumming in her horns creating a sympathetic vibration in the horns of the wounded one. “Thrum… hum… thrum… hum…” she chanted, the power pulsating between the two of them, the injured fairy’s horns catching the reverberation and lighting up her body with energy. The yellow-eyed lady pulsated with power, and concentrating upon the limp, still figure beside her, she willed their hearts to beat together. She looked over to her bored sister and with an irritable sneer, sternly ordered, “Sing!” The golden haired angel began a song of such unsurpassed beauty that the woods fell silent and the animals bent their heads to listen. Even the trees and bushes stilled themselves to hear the enchanting sounds. Aurora stopped sorting junk buckets and sat there enthralled with the magical melody, seeing in her mind scenes of great beauty, and feeling like she was dancing on waves of light, up to the stars and beyond. Then, the lovely singing faded, but the horned woman kept humming until she was quite sure she felt a steady heartbeat echoing the reverberating thrum from their horns. Then, she sighed, and took a deep breath, in profound relief. Then she gazed down at the lovely face beneath her. “She is so very beautiful,” she added wistfully. “Ah, it is no wonder that the princess fell hopelessly in love with her.” The green fingertips touched the wounded fairy’s forehead and then her horns, and felt the thrum of magical energy within. Then she thought hard; anything she wanted to cast would have to be in the form of a curse; that was the way her magic worked. She was a true dark fairy, and the left handed path came easiest to her.   
“Are you finished?” the lovely lady asked her greenish, tiger-eyed sister.   
“Do you feel nothing at all?” was the response.  
She sighed, “We already know what happens. Why are you agonizing over it?”  
“How can you be so cavalier about it? There is nothing more important! What if…” the dark fairy began to speculate, looking at the unconscious figure beside her.   
“Leave her to the princess. Let it all happen as it was meant to happen,” the old witch said, pouring herself a cup of broth from a small cauldron, and sitting down on her bed to smoke. “It was all going so well before you two arrived to stir the pot of fate.”  
Green fingers touched stained bandages again, and the yellow-eyed woman sighed. If her strange eyes would have permitted her to cry, she would have. Instead, there was only a slight strangling noise in her throat. “Can… we… go… now?” the golden haired angel begged her sister, putting down her cup of tepid tea. The witch’s three toads had been slowly hopping towards her, and she didn’t want those noisy, warty things anywhere near her. “Please?”  
“Very well,” the horned woman answered reluctantly, her color changing from leafy green to grayish, light purple as sadness overtook her, heavily tinged with annoyance at her disrespectful sister. Her long, spidery fingers again touched the fairy’s cheek, and then she kissed her forehead. “To the dwarves that have done this,” she decreed, “Demonic shall be their fates! Their heads upon spits for King John, and their skins and bones to make my chairs and clocks! To you I shall bring their most prized possessions, their axes...”  
“That’d be about all,” the witch decreed, interrupting the curse and making shooing motions. “You shouldn’t have come here to begin with. Now, get thee gone! And try to look surprised!” she shouted after them.  
Sighing, the horned lady dropped her veil back over her disconcerting eyes, and putting her hood back over her horns, followed her sister out the door. “There’s still the king of Esperel, and the Wild Elves,” the angel was telling her sister, “Curse them. Oh, and those dreadful dwarves, curse them doubly!” she laughed, “And kill all of them you wish! They are worth nothing to me. I’m already the most beautiful woman in the world and soon I will be the most powerful queen who ever lived, beloved by all.”  
“Those blessings have become an obscenity,” the witch grumbled. “But a bargain is a bargain, and a gift is a gift, to be used, cherished, or thrown away, as the receiver sees fit.”  
Still sitting out in the yard sorting junk buckets, Aurora watched the mysterious strangers depart soon after they arrived, and wondered mightily who they might be, while the witch shouted after them, “And don’t ever come back!” Aurora shook her head, and wished the witch was easier to get along with.


	19. Aurora’s Labors and Maleficent in the Halls of Mandos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Baba Yaga assigns Aurora a multitude of tasks, while Maleficent experiences undeath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Halls of Mandos was borrowed from J.R.R. Tolkien's afterlife in the Silmarillion.

Chapter 19  
Aurora’s Labors and Maleficent in the Halls of Mandos

Maleficent was alive, but unconscious. Aurora was happy that she was alive, and equally satisfied that she had accomplished something. The gentle, barely noticeable breaths were proof that she might recover, and that Aurora’s daily toil and labors were not completely wasted. Aurora kissed the dark fairy’s forehead, and spoke gently to her, softly enough to not disturb the snoring witch. She need not have bothered, for the witch woke early regardless, and her first act was to order Aurora to make her breakfast, and to perform a list of chores. Aurora left Maleficent as warm and comfortable as possible in their sheepskin and bear-fur nest on the floor, and went about her work as cheerfully and efficiently as she could manage. Seven years wasn’t really so much, she thought to herself, out of a lifetime, and she was saving someone she loved from death. It was also a good thing, she thought, that she had agreed to King John’s ideas about running a kingdom and debt consolidation. At least, she thought, her realm was in good hands for the seven years while she would be gone. Today, she was a little smarter, and found some fresh water for herself and Maleficent, and set aside from the witch’s nasty meals some plain, fresh fruit and eggs. Sniffing the bread Baba Yaga ate, she wasn’t sure what it was made from, but having heard old stories about giants and trolls grinding bones to make their bread, she decided to collect some healthful foods in the forest and meadows, while gathering the witch’s firewood. Weary, she collapsed in bed that evening after serving the witch and cleaning up afterward. Taking the semi-conscious fairy in her arms, she fed her soul-milk and heart’s hope from her breast, and then fell asleep.   
The exhausting routine continued, day after long, gruesome day. The witch would leave first thing in the morning, and then reappear in the evening, her flying cauldron full of revolting knick-knacks, for which she had many dreadful and arcane uses. Hair of the dead, toenail clippings, burial jewelry, and dried up umbilical cords were among the witch’s prized acquisitions. Teeth of all species were another favorite, as was hair, fur, and feathers. Aurora discovered that the witch did indeed grind bones to make her bread, and it was a noxious task she could delegate to Aurora, so she did. Aurora did not want to eat any such things, so she found wild grasses and oats, which she then ground into rough flour that she could use to make clean bread, as well as a simple, gruel-like oatmeal. Doing the witch’s laundry was as unpleasant as it had been before; as the witch had a variety of nasty habits, only beginning with her gross, greasy eating, and moving right along into vigorous nose-picking and trumpeting, objectionably fragrant belching and farting. After emptying and cleaning the cauldron from the witch’s laundry, Aurora decided it was time to do her own, and to clean the fairy’s bandages before reapplying them. It would not do to have a hag with clean underpants and let Maleficent die of an infection. She noticed that the bandages on her horns had been replaced with something sweet-smelling and clean, wrapped much better than Aurora herself could have done it. Puzzled, she left them as they were. As Aurora had not brought a change of clothes, she decided that the most efficient way to accomplish the task was to simply be naked for a little while, and boil up their dirty laundry and bandages all together, but separate from the witch’s. It was not difficult after all, she discovered. Indeed, long gowns and dragging sleeves only got dirty as she worked, and occasionally swept bugs up into her dress. They were so irritating, in fact, that she cut the sleeves off at the elbow to make them less annoying and bothersome while she worked. All she really needed, she suddenly thought, was a covering for when it was chilly in the mornings, and a sturdy belt for keeping things in. She made such an object that afternoon, using the very handy and useful little belt knife that Phillip had given her, out of a piece of leather she found underneath some dirty dishes while cleaning the cottage. Putting it on made her feel resourceful and strong; new, unfamiliar feelings she discovered she really liked, and that made her want to go out and do more. Then she paused for a minute with a sense of accomplishment and pride in her own abilities. I can do things by myself, Aurora thought. I don’t need anyone to take care of me; indeed, I’m capable of taking care of others. Actually, she reflected, a leather apron would be fantastic, if I could get the materials to make it. Heatproof and waterproof, she mused, as she went about her chores, some of which included chopping firewood and fixing the bone fences, which broke occasionally, and the skull posts needed to be upright in order to cast their eerie glow. After the first few whacks, she realized that her dainty slippers were wholly wrong for the task, and made herself a very sturdy pair of boots out of what she hoped was the remains of a bear’s feet. They could have been troll feet; she really couldn’t tell, what with all the claws and hair that looked quite similar. Aurora discovered that she really liked figuring out how to repair things. She worked day in and day out, with the ravens as her only companions, Diaval helping out whenever he could when the witch or her tattle-tale toads weren’t watching. It was fortunate, they told each other, that he could shape shift on his own! But her true joy was in seeing the fairy return to life. Her stitches were fading, and she was breathing better. No longer faint and barely detectable, her heartbeat was stronger and steadier. Her color was still worrisome, a decidedly unhealthful grayish-white, and she had great black shadows around her eyes. Her lips were pale and waxy, a mere shadow of the alluring ruby red they had been in life. But, the princess took immense joy and comfort in the fact that she was in fact alive again, and every chance she could, held her tenderly and sang to her. Aurora’s milk was no longer just soul-stuff, now it was physical, with silvery strands of soul-nourishment in it. Occasionally the fairy would move her head, or her unbroken arm, but she seemed to have no use of the rest of her body, and Aurora wondered when she would wake up. Sometimes the witch poked at the fairy with her staff, judging for herself the progress that had been made.  
Unconsciousness was a dim, gray world that contained nothing but black and white grains of falling sand. Everything had gone dark after her battle with the dwarves, after that horrible moment when she realized that they had removed her head from her body. I will not die this way, the fairy thought to herself, despising the murdering dwarves. Not this way, not like this! Of all possible fates, to be killed by the same horrid dwarves that had sent her mother plummeting to her death. I vowed revenge, Maleficent thought, I will kill them, not they me! In the shadow world of half-death, she felt like she was drowning in grayish darkness. I will not die, she told herself repeatedly. Indeed, she could not die; something, someone’s magic, was keeping her from a final death, and instead of slipping away into the vast, eternal Halls of the Gods, she remained in an undead state, neither alive nor dead, but wraithlike, and waiting. In that gray purgatory of undeath, she thought, heard, and remembered. On the other side of the nebulous grayness, were those she had known before in life and loved, but had passed through earlier. Her mother was there, just on the other side, and if it weren’t for the undeath spell, she could just reach over and take her outstretched hand. That hand was reaching for her, to clasp her once and for all in a blissful embrace, and Maleficent longed to grasp onto that hand, and be enfolded in her arms for all eternity. In the Halls of Mandos, truth, wisdom and enlightenment came to the souls of the dead. Clecie regretted her abysmally poor treatment of her children, the twice-abandoned Maleficent and the hated and oft-beaten Snow White, both of whom she had tried to murder, and had many years to ponder her own actions. She had long ago bitterly repented of her jealousy and wanton cruelty, and especially of her lies, murder and abandonment of her beautiful dark fairy baby. Maleficent readily forgave her mother, whom she had loved regardless of it, just like she still loved the annoying and simple Snow White. It was also easy to forgive Edward, who hadn’t ever been told in life that she was even his child, but had simply been kind to her as he would have to anyone else. And yes, all the jealousy and deception had been unnecessary. If Clecie had just told him the truth he would have accepted it. Both of his children by his fairy wife he would have loved just as much as he had Snow White; the beautiful, regal Maleficent, resplendent in her power and dark beauty, and the son who had not lived. In the Halls also dwelt the little brother she had never known, who had died as an infant, beloved by the parents who had joined him there such a short time later. She left all the resentment behind and loved them, and craved a reunion, especially with her mother.  
But Stephan she could not forgive. He was there also, in the Halls of the Gods, awaiting her arrival. He too regretted his treatment of those he had wronged in life, but she would not hear it, and the presence of his spirit there beyond the veil enraged her. When he told her that he still loved her, after all, she was even further infuriated. Was there no Gehenna, no pits for the damned? His actions towards her had been too wrong, too wantonly and gratuitously evil, for her to leave anger and hatred behind with the ignorant mortal coil. His lies, betrayal, and theft of her wings had been grievous enough, but she remembered all too well what had happened just after the awakening, as they were trying to leave the castle. The iron net had fallen, and trapped her, until Stephan had seized her. Blindfolded, gagged, and suspended by her wrists from an overhead beam with an iron chain, she had suffered more than she had ever imagined possible at their hands. Whips and hot iron had scorched and bit her, until the fairy was covered in burns and her own blood. Then Stephan had taken her first, in a horrible victory celebration, while they all cheered. “How does it feel?” he had asked her, mocking her, proving to all of them that he had conquered her utterly. She had felt like her arms were going to come off, and that he was shoving a spear through her. “This is how it will be,” he gloated, “For sixteen years in the dungeon. Deep underground in an iron cage you will dwell, burning in the darkness, bound and helpless. Oh, yes, I’ve had it built just for you! Never again will you see the sun. Then, after sixteen years and a day, if you bow before me and beg, I might give you the kiss of death from my sword.” Then he had laughed, and given his men a turn; two at once, and she had felt like she was going to die. Indeed, she had been praying for death. But death if granted had been intended to be slow, and the revenge exacted sweet and shared. Clearly the last thing Stephan and his men had wanted to see at that time was Princess Aurora, rushing into their midst and throwing her arms around the miserable, trapped fairy. Aurora had lifted Maleficent slightly, to ease the awful pressure on her arms, begging for her life, and removing the evil-looking gag and blindfold. As Aurora had touched her, she had felt a sudden, powerful surge of healing energy that had rushed through her in an orgasmic burst of pleasure, healing her wounds and reviving her. Stephan had ordered Aurora away, and although his fun was ruined by the appearance of his daughter, vengeance was still going to be delivered to Maleficent. He ordered two of the men to take Aurora away and lock her in her room, but she entwined her own wrist in the suspended fairy’s chains, so they couldn’t simply drag her off again. It hurt, as the ponderous iron chains crushed her forearm, but it gave Aurora time to remove the gag, and halted the burning and violating. Then the raven had come within Maleficent’s sight, and using every bit of strength she had left, she had transformed him into a dragon. Aurora had then freed her from the horrible chains, while the dragon rampaged through the castle, killing all who opposed it. Gratitude, love, shame, and horror had all mixed together for Maleficent in those awful minutes, and death would have been preferable to Aurora’s anguished sobs and tears while she had untied her. Stephan had ruined everything for them, forever. Once it had happened, it could not be undone, and although they never spoke of it, the memory was always there, just under the surface, a horrible, lurking presence that cast a dark shadow over their love. How dare he now claim to still care for her; to love her? There was an old nostalgia for the shared memories of childhood and long ago, but that didn’t supersede or erase what had happened later. She wanted vengeance, and would take it. But that was not the way of the spirit world, it was something that bound her to the physical realm. Not fair, she wanted to scream, not fair that he should stand there among you! And the spirits were there, waiting.  
Among several other spirits who waited for her, but that she was avoiding, Aurora’s mother was there. She harbored no ill will towards Maleficent; she too had forgiven and moved on. The forgiveness was only one way however. Although she had forgiven the dark fairy, Maleficent had always avoided ever thinking about her, and the grievous hurt she had inflicted upon Aurora and her mother. If there was a pit of Gehenna, were they not justified in wishing her in it? What a selfish thing she was, uncovering at all costs the secrets of the magic chamber, cherishing the memory of her own mother, while she had denied her beloved that very same thing? They would have been very happy, without any involvement from fairy curses, but they were denied each other, by her vengeance and Stephan’s reaction. There also were a great number of Stephan’s men, whom she had killed over the years. Most of those warriors were in the Hall of the Glorious Dead, where the ribaldry never ended. Drinking, gaming and fighting; served beer and mead in great horns and flagons by busty shieldmaidens until that final call to battle at the end of all things. They had long ago ceased to hate her, but rather toasted to her as a worthy opponent, who would at last join them in the long ghostly halls of eternity. But still, Stephan she could not forgive. Even more than the greedy, murdering dwarves, who had borrowed from him the idea of the iron net, she could not let go of her hatred and anger towards him. The wounds he gave her were too grievous, and even once the physical ones had mostly healed, the emotional ones had festered for a lifetime. Love, she snarled at his offered hand, how dare he even imply such a thing? She was fearless about her accusing; in front of the mostly silent dead, and thought about her beloved Aurora. She hated Stephan all the more for giving her his blessing for their love.  
As Maleficent thought about her life, and her death, she heard, wished for, or imagined the one she cherished most, above all others, her beloved Aurora, singing to her, touching her ruined body, calling her back from the dead. If I do not live for love I will return for vengeance, she thought. She heard Aurora’s voice singing sweetly to her, saying that she loved her, and crying, somewhere off in the distance. Listening, she followed the voice, which seemed to come from very, very far away, through the endless snowy black and white blizzard. She moved farther away from the ghosts of the dead, from her mother’s outstretched hand, away from the Halls of Mandos there on the edge of time, and towards the land of the living. Then, the grayness changed, and became more thick, and palpable, and a sort of glittering orange watery torrent, where Aurora’s singing and other noises were much closer, so she followed the source of the sounds. She reached her hand through, and then slowly, she made her way through a sparkling, blood-red veil. Then the darkness broke, and finding herself once again in her body, she took a real breath, which filled her chest with pain. Everything hurt, especially her head. She wanted to scream, but didn’t have the strength. Even opening her eyes was exhausting, and several agonizing breaths later when she finally did, she found herself in a horrible place, indeed. She was lying on a bear skin, on the floor of a gruesome little hut decorated in bones and what she suspected was leather made of human skin. Bat wings, mummified toads, and countless other animal parts were stashed, stuffed, and stowed everywhere. Cages, empty or full of bones, hung from the ceiling, and the smoky, rancid, oily odor of rendered flesh permeated the air, along with the acrid scent of burnt leaves. What was this strange land of the dead, she wondered. She was looking up at them when a hideous face appeared above her.  
“Boo!” shouted the witch, and cackled loudly.   
Maleficent recognized that horrible, gnarled, ancient warty face; it was the witch Clecie had promised her firstborn child to. She tried to push the awful face away with her one unbroken arm, but she exhausted herself while the witch howled with laughter, pinching, poking and prodding her while making yummy noises. The scream which had died in her throat came out with an excruciating breath of air that made her lungs feel like they were on fire. Pain or no pain, she screamed again and fought the hag off as the witch cackled and pinched her.  
“So it seems we know each other,” the witch laughed, “Tasty little morsel! Now there’s more of you to eat!”   
With a panicked scream, Maleficent summoned what power remained within her, and tried to transform the witch into a mouse. The witch laughed at her and raised her hand, the magical energy turning from living green into a dulled, dried blood red, congealing ball in the witch’s dirty palm. Realizing that she was not only losing a magical battle but exhausting herself utterly, Maleficent stopped, and tried to catch her breath. The witch held the scabby, malodorous russet ball aloft and said, “Fairy magic. You tried to turn me into a mouse, didn’t you? That wasn’t very nice of you, Maleficent. Your fairy magic won’t work on me. But I suppose it’s important that we make that clear from the very start, now isn’t it?” She smiled down at the now truly frightened fairy, who had finally managed to take another breath. “What shall we do with this little naughty bit of enchantment? What do you think?”  
“Nothing,” was the barely whispered reply.   
“Nothing!” the witch mocked. “We both know this magical energy has to go somewhere, now doesn’t it?” Maleficent stared at the hag in dread. The energy was congealing, growing cold, and stagnant. The roiling red ball in the witch’s hand was absorbing the hag’s emanations, and becoming increasingly repulsive and unsavory. “I think I should just give it back to you.”  
“No…” She put up brief and ineffective resistance against the witch, who slammed the cold, slimy blood-congealed ball of contaminated energy back into the fairy who screamed in agony. She had never reabsorbed rancid, spoiled magic before, and it was awful, like swallowing back her own poisoned vomit, over and over again. She wanted to push it back out, but the witch was holding it down into her chest, until the slime had permeated her body in a horrible combination of nausea and pain. She screamed, hoping some of it would simply be regurgitated back out, but the witch covered her mouth, forcing it back down her throat, until she stopped fighting and broke down into tears. The sickness settled into her, as the energy flowed back into her spirit where it had come from, and made her feel as though she needed to vomit an enormous amount of slime and blood. She had come back from the dead, thinking she had been called by love, only to find herself in a place far worse than mere death. She wept, wondering why the witch hadn’t simply eaten her and been done with it.   
Only then did the witch stop forcing rancid, slimy energy through her and stare down at the fairy cruelly. “Your mama wasn’t very smart, and made a bad bargain. The only reason you’re alive is because of that girl who loves you and likes to work. She promised to be my servant for seven years in exchange for healing you,” the witch laughed. “Didn’t know you already belonged to me, did she? Didn’t know she’d be doing all the work, either! Ha, ha ha…” the witch cackled. “It’s a poor bargain she made to compound your mother’s deal,” she gloated, eyeing the fairy with a smirk. “So by all rights you’re mine! Oh, what goes well with fairy?” Diaval cawed and then hid, his new lady friend watching curiously. The witch glared where he went, and she said, “True, I did just make the deal with the perky princess, so that would supersede any original deals… Especially with the dead… Hmm…” The raven cawed again, and reminded her that the rules governing such magical bargains were ancient, like riddling curses, and only the most wicked of creatures broke them. Oathbreakers were haunted and cursed by their own words and deeds. “So, Maleficent, I will make you this bargain. If you want to live, then listen up. There’s rules in this house,” the witch said. “First, you do what I say. No defiance. And second, no fairy magic. You will not cast a spell the entire time you’re here, which might be as long as seven years, if you can be smart about it. You will not speak, not a word, or even a wordlike noise, in the seven years that you will spend here working with the princess. No talking, and no magic! And definitely no screaming!” the witch said, wagging her dirty, black clawed forefinger at the fairy, “If you speak, and my pets will let me know if you do, then the princess’ bargain is void, and I will consider your mother’s original deal to once again be first, and that you are mine to eat. Any spellcasting or magic use, and I will eat a part of you! If you succeed, then at the end of the seven years I will consider all oaths fulfilled, and you and the princess are free from all curses.” She looked down at the fairy, who was most unhappy. No speaking or spells for seven years would render her nearly powerless, but her alternatives were few to none. There was no other way to break the curse that Clecie’s oathbreaking had brought upon her. She had no real hope, but sadly, Maleficent nodded her agreement to the witch’s demands, wondering how long it would be before the old hag gave in to the temptation to eat her, whatever she might do. Not long, she thought, as she watched the witch rub her hands together greedily and talk to herself about what she was going to cook with fairy, muttering about puffballs and magic mushrooms. She wondered where Aurora was, and gave in to the urge to cry. In a moment, the witch was upon her, trying to catch her tears in a rusty can. Attempting to bat her away only made the situation worse; the witch didn’t care if she hurt her by simply stepping on the one good arm in her zeal to collect fairy tears. Biting her lip, Maleficent stopped crying.  
“Oh, cry, you wicked fairy!” shouted the witch. But Maleficent shook her head slowly, no, and closed her eyes. The witch gave the fairy a good kick, but since Maleficent couldn’t feel much from the waist down, it was wholly ineffective. Poking her in the eyes was equally non-productive, to the witch’s consternation. “Seven tears and I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night, how’s that?”  
Wanting to make the kicking and poking cease, the fairy sighed, and let seven tears fall. The witch collected them up in the can and danced with glee, slurping them down. “Fairy tears, fairy tears; sweetest draught I’ve had in years! Hahaha…” Exhausted and miserable, the fairy lay back down, fear of the witch subsiding, and pain from her many injuries returning, especially where she’d been stomped on. She thought about her last moments of life, and recalled the dwarves’ attack. Clearly they had succeeded in stealing back the magic belt. Strangely, Maleficent didn’t miss it, or the madness which had accompanied it. As much as it had consumed her while she had it, she felt now almost no desire for it. Instead, what she wanted was for Aurora to return from her chores outside, and put those nice herbs on her wounds that would make everything feel better. Her head in particular hurt, and crying had made it worse. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend she was somewhere else. Fortunately, she didn’t have long to wait. Aurora entered the cottage with a load of wood and a big basket of eggs. Maleficent felt much better just knowing she was there, and that the witch was about to be fed an enormous helping of eggs, instead of a fairy. She slipped off to sleep listening to Aurora sing while cooking the dinner, and became conscious again later that night when the young woman lay down beside her. Aurora was tired, and Maleficent was exhausted physically and magically from her earlier battle with the witch. The stale, putrid magic had made her feel nauseated and sick. Even breathing was a tremendous effort, so she lay still, with her eyes closed, and listened.  
“Why did I feed that stinky old witch eggs?” Aurora groaned, pulling the cloak over them and covering her nose. “Now the cottage smells awful! Or even worse than it did!” The fairy would have laughed, if she could have done so without pain. She wanted to tell Aurora that everything hurt, for it certainly did. Instead she was silent, and to her surprise, Aurora pulled her close, and held her to the breast. Sweet milk filled her mouth, and so she drank it, the mystery of how she was still alive suddenly solved, replaced with the wonder at how the girl had done it. Aurora had called her back from the dead, and shared a part of her soul. She wanted to speak, wanted to thank Aurora for saving her in this powerful and beautiful way, but didn’t dare utter a word, so she made the tremendous effort of laying her unbroken arm and hand on Aurora’s other breast, although the young lady seemed not to notice. “I love you, Maleficent,” Aurora said softly, not expecting a response. She kissed her gently, and said, “Sleep well, my dearly beloved.” Then, completely exhausted, she quickly fell asleep.  
But real sleep eluded Maleficent, as she lay there in Aurora’s arms, smelling the earthy combination of human sweat and milk. She was wrapped in a cloak, and lying on what felt like a pile of bear and sheep skins. She could feel the tattered remains of what had once been the ruby and black lace jeweled gown; the bottom and sleeves torn away. Converging thoughts warred with each other in her mind. If she loved Aurora, she should find a way to get her out of this deadly witch’s hut. The Baba Yaga was no mere witch, but an ancient, fierce wild Earth Mother goddess for whom life and death were no different than the changing of the seasons. She was known to eat her children and then draw them alive again from spirit, air, fire, earth, water, wood, and bones. The Great Wild Hag ate people, animals, and who really knew what else? She certainly savored fairy tears, Maleficent thought. Yet, she had been brought here, apparently by Aurora, and the young woman had summoned her back from the dead by using her own body and soul. It was powerful healing magic, like the burst of light and well-being that had healed her wounds, and revived her enough to cast the spell that changed Diaval into a dragon. The surge of healing energy then had been so sudden and shocking that she had felt an unexpected and overwhelming burst of pleasure and utter fulfillment at her touch, peaking when the blindfold came off and she looked into the eyes of her beloved. Healing magic like that was divine, not mortal. Was Aurora that strong? How, she wondered. She wouldn’t have believed it at all if she hadn’t experienced it. But since she had, where had that power come from? How? Why? Nor did Aurora seem afraid of the Baba Yaga. Old Grandmother Night kept elemental beings and dealt in life, death, and life. Maleficent had an uneasy moment when she reflected upon her own life, death, and current tenuous grasp upon life once again. She also realized that she was now one of the Yaga’s elemental beings, lying there upon the cottage floor, pondering her own conditional existence there in the dark. So many things went through her head, but although she came to no conclusions, she did get tired enough to fall back asleep, despite the witch’s dreadful snoring.  
As usual, the witch poked Aurora with her stick early in the morning, and said, “Get up, girl! Make my breakfast, and there’s work to do!” The princess once again fetched the witch’s breakfast, and quickly thereafter, she hopped into her flying cauldron, soon rising up into the air and away.  
“Beautiful friend,” Aurora sighed, “I’m sure you would like something to help with the pain…”  
Yes! Maleficent wanted to exclaim, but instead she was silent, her eyes leaden and her tongue held. Fortunately, relief came quickly in the form of herbal poultices and teas. She not only felt relieved of her discomfort, but almost as if she was floating away on a cloud. She wondered if perhaps Aurora was giving her too much, rather than too little. I’m not a human, the fairy thought, she might inadvertently kill me with kindness… She was considering making the effort to push Aurora’s hand away, when she felt herself once again gently lifted to the breast and fed, while Aurora sang to her, petting her hair. Aurora’s humming and soft singing was beautifully enchanting, and reminded Maleficent of fairy lullabies. Then again, she thought, this would be a wonderful way to die. Live or die, she decided to enjoy it and make it last as long as possible, especially when the witch was gone. Aurora of course, didn’t realize that she was drugging her beloved Maleficent senseless for several days at a time with each dose, because the beautiful winged fairy was far more of the element of air than humans, and lacking the heavy earth or water to absorb or dilute the excess, Maleficent frequently floated away on a disorienting cloud of semi-consciousness. Gently are you revenged for my sleep spells upon you, my love, she thought.


	20. Prince of the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Yaga assigns Aurora more chores.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry folks, but yes, the Baba Yaga ate Bambi. Sensitive people might want to simply skim through the chapter or skip it all together. There's nothing gruesome, I didn't cover the exact technique for dressing a deer, but this is where Aurora gets her deerskin dress and the leather to make boots and a tool bag.

Chapter 20  
Prince of the Forest

Work, work, work, Aurora thought. She sighed, and then thought that at least working made the time go by faster. She was about to sit down and rest when the witch reappeared in her flying cauldron. “Oh, I’ve got something for you!” the witch exclaimed as she jumped out of the cauldron. “Look!”  
Aurora gazed into the giant cauldron, and wondered what she was supposed to focus on. There was a dead deer, a stone, the oar made of human hair, an old boot so dark and damaged that it looked like it had been worn in a mine, and a hog’s head. She quickly chose the stone. “Oh, thank you, a rock!” she said appreciatively, picking it up.  
“Put that back!” the witch commanded her. “That’s a magic rock!”  
“Oh,” Aurora said, sounding disappointed, and setting the stone down picked up the shabby old boot. Two boots would have been better, but it was still potentially useful. “This is…”  
“No, no! That’s a dimensional portal! You put that down immediately!”  
Aurora set the nasty old boot down, and sighed. There were only two things left in that cauldron, and she didn’t want either one, since she was fairly sure the witch wasn’t giving her the oar. She looked at the dead deer, with its glazed over expression, and the hog’s head, which seemed to be frozen in a grimace of sullen defiance which reminded her strongly of the dwarves.  
“No, no, no… I’ve brought you something you can use! Hang up that deer, girl, and make me some hogshead cheese!”  
“But,” Aurora said, “I’m a princess… I’ve never done anything like that before!”  
“What!” the witch exclaimed. “What? What did you do with yourself all day long?”  
“I sang in the forest, and danced with the wonderful fairy creatures in meadows of flowers…”  
“Now there’s a waste of time! All right, I’ll show you how it’s done once, then you do the rest!”  
“Oh, thank you!” Aurora readily agreed. She was thinking that anything was better than doing it by herself, until the witch started barking orders at her. She found herself engaged in a gruesome task indeed, removing it’s scent glands and then hanging and gutting the deer, while the witch stood there shouting at her to first do this, then that. This wasn’t what I had in mind, she thought to herself, but then made the best of it by thinking that at least she was learning something. When at last the deer was hoisted high and left to bleed out, the witch shouted at her to get that hog’s head. If hanging the deer had exhausted her, trying to pull the tough old hog’s teeth out of its miserable head with a pair of rusty pliers was a true chore. “They won’t come out,” Aurora concluded.  
“Pull harder!” the witch demanded. “Pull harder!” So Aurora pulled with all her strength, and managed to flip the ugly old hog’s head over and into the bushes.  
“See, it didn’t work,” she concluded.  
“Go get it!” the witch ordered her.  
So she was obliged to search around until she found the nasty thing, which she was not altogether overjoyed to locate. Thinking about the snout lock on the front door of the cottage, she got an idea. Hauling the head into the hut, she set it on the witch’s table, and said, “Wait, wouldn’t you like another lock? One for your back door?” The witch considered this, and then agreed. Chopping the snout off was much easier than pulling those noxious teeth, and then with a happy feeling of good riddance, she tossed it into the pot of other gruesome delights to boil up for the witch’s dinner. Fortunately, the witch didn’t notice that she was missing out on hogshead cheese; she was far too busy lying on her bed, gloating over and stroking the old boot, and all the use she was going to get out of it.  
The next evening, the witch once again reappeared in her cauldron, gloating over the treasures within. Oh, no, Aurora thought, not again! This time, the witch hopped out of the flying cauldron holding aloft two young fawns. “Hahaha…” she laughed, “Got the little ones today! Tomorrow I’ll get him, I’ll get him… hehehe…” Aurora wondered what the crazy old hag was cackling about, as she sadly took the two little fawns, hanging and gutting them next to their mother. That was tragic and sad, Aurora thought. Then she realized that their soft little skins would make her some fantastic gloves and slippers. Or maybe something for her fairy friend? Maleficent would need something to wear soon. She couldn’t remain wrapped in an old cloak over the remains of Clecie’s ruby gown forever. Aurora touched the soft fur; perhaps some booties to keep the fairy’s feet warm? Those cold blue feet worried Aurora, they seemed to be more dead than alive. She wondered if maybe the king had gotten into a hurry when he’d been stitching them back on, and then forgotten to go back and tighten them up. Then again, she recalled, he hadn’t remembered to cast any of his healing spells on her feet. He’d been mostly concerned with her head, neck, and hands. One thing was for sure, the witch would be consuming deer meat in the foreseeable future.   
Two more days passed, until the witch returned again triumphantly. “I got him!” she exclaimed. “Prince of the Forest! Bah! Ha! Prince of my dinner!” She threw a full grown buck out of the cauldron at Aurora, who was less than pleased to be hanging and gutting another deer. “And put that rack right front and center over my fireplace! And hang my washing from it! Hahaha! Prince of the Forest! Hahaha, ho ho ho!”  
“Well, that’s the whole family,” Aurora grumbled, hanging the large buck with the splendid antlers from the trees, next to the doe and fawns. “Leave it to the witch to start a battle with a family of deer!” Although, she thought, this does leave me with a nice supply of soft leather to make us some clothes out of. She studied what she had, and thought that she would get not only her work apron, but a deerskin dress, a tool bag, and some warm leather booties for herself and the fairy. By putting her own dress on Maleficent, they would both be decently clothed and still have the cloak for a cover while they slept.  
“What’s that, girl?” the witch demanded, hearing her discontented mumbling.   
“How would you like your venison served?” Aurora answered with a cheerful smile.  
“With plenty of sauce, girl, plenty of sauce,” the witch laughed. “Venison tastes like pond muck,” she added, shambling off.  
Aurora thought that was certainly strange, considering the witch liked to eat slugs rolled around in dirt for breakfast. However, the deerskin exceeded her expectations and she was able to make not only the items she had at first planned, but gloves and bracers, so that when she needed to put her hands into a hot burning fire, or fling things about, she did so without injury. “Excellent!” she exclaimed, as she tried out the gloves for the first time. They weren’t pretty, they were lopsided, rough-looking things, and no one would have given a copper for them, but they kept her hands from being burnt. It was work well done, if she did dare to congratulate herself.


	21. An Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent awakens from her undeath.

Chapter 21  
An Awakening

Holding Maleficent to her breast one evening after an exhausting day of back breaking work, which had included her first efforts at killing chickens, roosters the witch had ordered her to prepare for supper, she asked the unconscious fairy, “My beloved, when will you awaken, and open your eyes?” She did not really expect a response, but what she heard was the witch’s hearty cackling, as the old hag sat smoking her pipe by the fireside, after finishing her chicken dinner, which she had crunched down bones and all. “Why are you laughing?”  
“She don’t want to open her eyes when you’re here! Then you would see into her soul, which is part of yours, and so you would know exactly what she’s been thinking!” the witch howled with laughter. “She’s got what she always wanted, the sneaky little wretch, and she don’t want it to end! And she’s lazy! She doesn’t want to do any chores! She’s happy to lay there all day, be held, loved and fed, and let you do all the work!”  
“That’s not true!” Aurora argued. “It’s not like she sits up while I’m out in the forest and smokes your pipe!” The witch howled with laughter until she chortled and coughed, and Aurora looked down at Maleficent, who lay there comfortably in her arms, and had a slight smile on her lovely red lips as she nursed, the color having come back into her, and the hand of her unbroken arm resting softly on the other breast. “Open your eyes,” Aurora told her. Dark lashes fluttered open, to reveal an extremely lustful expression in the dark fairy’s deep green eyes that quite surprised the princess. She felt the pull on her breast strengthen, and Maleficent’s tongue tickled her nipple. “You are quite the mischievous fairy,” Aurora smiled, and then laughed, as Maleficent smiled up at her, with something that might have been guilt, the princess wasn’t quite sure, the deception over. “You can use your other hand, too, can’t you?” She felt the awkward, uncoordinated fumble of a broken limb against her back, the reattached hand barely usable, like a clumsy mitten. Maleficent looked up at her, and Aurora squeezed her tighter. “You didn’t have to pretend! I enjoy holding and nursing you.” Then she added, “But if you are well enough to sit up and smoke, I think you are well enough to help.” Without releasing her grip on Aurora’s breast, Maleficent shot a glance back at the witch, who laughed at her. I didn’t intentionally mislead her, the fairy thought, knowing the witch could hear her thoughts. Somewhere between death and the drug-induced fog she had alternately slept or held her tongue, since the witch had forbidden her to speak. The witch met her gaze and cackled afresh. Aurora giggled too, and felt a burst of joy. She touched the fairy’s lovely cheeks and soft hair, mindful not to bump her or touch the horns, which she remembered were very sensitive, even when not injured. Maleficent had magical powers, and any magic she could use to lighten the workload was going to be most appreciated.   
Eyeing the fairy but speaking to Aurora, the witch said, “She’s all yours, perky princess. You brought her back from the dead, so she’s your problem, your responsibility; your servant, for life, if you ask it of her. Demand, I would say,” the hag cackled, “If you even want to keep her. If you should decide that you would rather not be bothered with her, I could send her right back to the Halls of Mandos, and make myself a fine supper indeed,” she smiled, catching the worried fairy’s eye. “And,” she grinned, “I’ve been wanting to make a match to my favorite mug.” Maleficent stiffened and felt a chill wash over her, as Aurora suddenly giggled.  
“You’re funny sometimes,” the princess laughed to the witch. “You know I would never do that! I love her enough to come here in the first place!”  
“Don’t you ever feel like punishing her for her cursing, for her evil? After all, she did kill your father, and inadvertently, your mother, who was blameless in the whole affair. Few people could ignore that; fewer still could forgive and love.”  
“No,” the princess replied, “I know what happened.”  
“We shall see, pretty princess, we shall see,” she answered, “The seven years have only but begun, and I’d rather eat now. You have only to abandon her to regain your freedom.” The witch flopped down on her creaky old bed, and quickly fell asleep after smoking some evil-smelling leaves in a dark, crusty pipe. The witch’s croaking toads alternately sang their songs, along with the witch’s thunderous snoring, and then crept quietly back under the old hag’s creaking cot. The moon shone through the window, illuminating the cottage in a cool, silvery blue light, while the wind blew chill bursts. Autumn had passed and was turning into winter, the bits of daylight filtering through the witch’s forest shorter than ever. Aurora kissed Maleficent, who was comfortable and sleepy. “Do you want anything?” Aurora asked her softly, so as not to wake the witch. The fairy sighed, and tenderly kissed her back. “Can you speak?” Aurora asked, in the barest whisper. The response was only a reedy breath, and then another loving kiss. “So you cannot speak? Maleficent, please tell me if you have your voice. We need not tell the witch, but I must know.” The fairy took her hand, squeezed it tightly, and putting it on her throat, Aurora touched the spot under the bandages, and felt Maleficent shiver. Aurora sighed. “Please, can’t you speak?” A slight breathiness was the only reply, along with a sad sigh, which ended in coughing. “So be it,” Aurora whispered sadly. She touched the fairy’s beautiful face gently, her fingers rougher than they had ever been before, feeling both strong and strange against Maleficent’s soft, silky skin, and whispered, “I know this may sound strange, but in a way it’s almost good that this happened. We might never have touched like this otherwise. It would have been too easy not to. And the work isn’t so bad, really. I feel smart, for the first time in my life, and competent, and I like learning how to do and fix things. I can’t say I really enjoyed hanging the deer or killing those roosters for the pot, but if you add enough herbs anything tastes good, and the chicken broth did taste good! Anyway, what I really enjoy is this; lying next to you every night, and taking care of you. It’s really sort of magical, and it might sound silly, but I feel like when I nurse you, part of me is in you, and that you have part of my soul.” Aurora giggled, giving her a gentle kiss. “And before, I was always a weak little piece of baggage for you, and now I can repay you for some of your caring…”  
Maleficent wanted so much to give voice to her thoughts, to say what was in her heart. She felt the same, but had no words for it, even if she had been permitted to speak. In many ways, she was emotionally frozen, and it had been many years since she had experienced such love and warmth before; if ever, she thought. She needed Aurora to tell her what she was feeling, as something very basic in her nature had changed. Then she realized what it was that was different; she had a human soul. As a fey creature, she had only a wild spirit, this human soul was confusing, and made her feel all sorts of things she had never experienced before. Most of it was beyond her understanding, but this new level of closeness between herself and Aurora fascinated her, and she wanted more of the beautiful feelings. It was also strange to her that Aurora had known of these things all along.   
Aurora took her good hand and squeezed it in understanding. “I love you,” she whispered, holding Maleficent against her, “Sleep well.” Then, exhausted from her day of chores, she quickly fell asleep. There was much that the fairy wished she could say, and that she had many opportunities to do so before but hadn’t taken any of them. She had been too busy with revenge, dark magic, and arcana. Now, lying next to the girl she loved, closer than they had ever lain before, breath and heartbeats mixing together, she dared not use her voice, and couldn’t say what she wanted to. The magic Aurora referred to was also in her mind, although she had no words, no reference for it, but she was affected in a way that she had never known before. There was depth and texture within her that was new, and to her amazement, a great empty hole in her chest had been filled. No longer did the chill winds seem to blow through and around her heart. There was something very different within her, gently loving, warm and kind. It seemed to rise and fall with her breathing, and resided both behind her eyes and within her heartbeat, occasionally flittering around through her blood. Perhaps it was, she thought, part of Aurora’s soul, mixing with her own spirit. She heard Aurora’s breathing soften and slow, into the deep rhythm of sleep, and she was sweetly lovely in the moonlight. Maleficent knew what she wanted, but even then, she was cautious. Aurora said she loved her, but this sweet-hearted girl also loved singing, poetry, pretty flowers and falling snow. Perhaps all of this was for loyalty and friendship. Maybe she wouldn’t want her in that way, and hinting at that would ruin the beauty of what they already had; especially after her own horribly embarrassing reaction to the awakening kiss in the former queen’s old bedchamber. Besides, how long was the witch going to wait before giving in to the urge to eat her? So she just enjoyed the soft breath on her cheek, and the warm skin against hers, letting the sedative herbal tea Aurora had given her lull her off to sleep. The powerful, soporific herbs were the best way to ensure that they fell asleep before the witch’s snoring became too loud and annoying. The ever-present pain subsiding, she sighed, and experienced a very strange sensation; a snake of evil shook around in her heart, and was quashed out. She breathed deeply, exhaling something heavy and leaden. Warmth came over her, and she felt an embarrassing, unfamiliar form of sweet and sweaty. Like a human, she thought, as she felt the sleeping princess’ arm grow heavy around her, and heard her sigh softly. I love you, the fairy thought, more than I have ever felt for anyone. Then, with a soft, warm sensation where the wind used to blow through the empty hole in her chest, she smiled ever so slightly, and fell asleep, floating away on another disorienting but exquisite cloud.


	22. The Spinning Wheel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Baba Yaga orders Maleficent to respin fate on a magical spinning wheel, to atone for all the evil deeds she once did.

Chapter 22  
The Spinning Wheel

They were awakened in the customary rude fashion of the witch, the stick falling rapidly upon their heads and shoulders, accompanied by the witch’s cackling and swearing. “Get up, you lazy, cursed creatures! I said get up!”   
Aurora being roused from sleep, she sat up and said to the witch, “A moment, please, Grandmother! A moment only to shake off the dreams and care for my beloved.”  
“A moment only, then! Get up and make my breakfast!”  
The witch barked her orders as Aurora tried to make her fairy friend comfortable for the day. It was difficult to nurse with the witch’s horrible voice rankling in her ears, and the thought of how much work she was going to have to accomplish that day. The fairy clearly didn’t want her to leave, and clung to her, gripping her hair and skirt. “I have to go,” she explained what she thought was obvious. Yes, the witch was horrid, but Maleficent never had a scratch or bruise on her when Aurora returned from her long day outside of chores. “I won’t be gone long today,” she assured her, “I will be back by noon and spend the rest of the day cleaning the cottage. And I will bring something special for you; I think the fairy mushrooms I found the other day in the forest are ready for picking. Perhaps you should just try to go back to sleep, and I will awaken you when I return.” The fairy sighed at her like she was simple, and made a writing motion with her finger on the flat of her hand. “Of course,” Aurora assured her, “I will look for anything like that, but there’s nothing outside but bones and chicken poop!” The fairy sighed and let Aurora go. She watched her beloved lace up her troll-foot boots, and tie on her tool belt. The fire crackled softly as Maleficent sat there, wishing she had at least a pen and piece of paper to write on. She sighed, and looked around the cottage. The toads regarded her curiously, and greeted her with a croak. She nodded at them. So these were the witch’s pets. It would be wise of her to make friends with them. She thought she spotted Diaval hiding up in a corner, with another raven! They were roosting very close to one another, and she realized that he had taken a mate! Shocked, she wondered how long she had been unconscious; clearly many things had changed. She stared up at them, waiting for an explanation. Not that she had ever forbidden him to fraternize with own kind, but she had assumed that his sole existence would revolve around serving her. She was pondering many things while the ravens hid silently in the rafters, and then the witch was upon her.  
“How long, eh?” the witch laughed, in a low, evil voice, her goatee flowing as she cackled, and her mesmerizingly horrible nose hairs floating on a nonexistent breeze. The fairy wanted to scream and run away from such ghastly ugliness, but since that wasn’t an option, she leaned as far away as she possibly could, afraid that the warty gruesomeness might be contagious. The witch noticed, and regarded her slyly with her one large, good eye. The fairy couldn’t help but wonder as she shuddered in disgust what happened to the other one. “Now that she knows you’re awake, I wouldn’t give you more than a few weeks of silence before that laziness and arrogance of yours gets the best of you! Ha! My guess is the first thing you’ll say is no! Hahaha… No, don’t want to work, No! Don’t want to get up, no, don’t want to help… Hahaha…” The witch commenced poking her, and she slapped the witch’s clawed, warty, dirty hand away in disgust and annoyance. “Aaahhh,” the witch gloated, “Milk-fed fairy! The sweetest meat there is! Nothing like it anywhere! Don’t make me wait too long, you wicked thing!” She leaned forward, took a long, luscious, obscenely enjoyed sniff of the delicious fairy, and scared her thoroughly. “Mmmm…” she hummed, licking her lips and enjoying the scent. Her eyes glowed a greedy red with desire, and the fairy tried to pull away, terrified that the old witch was going to take a bite of her with those jagged yellow teeth that were becoming ever longer before her eyes. She resisted the urge to scream for help, as the witch jerked her usable arm upward, and inhaled deeply in her armpit, making hungry, guttural, animal noises, like she was going to eat the fairy’s heart out by gnawing her through the armpit. Maleficent smacked her with her broken arm, trying to push the witch away, terrified of her tongue and long, brownish-yellow teeth; foul, filthy fangs that were becoming even longer, the more she smelled the delicious, milk-fed fairy with her porcelain smooth skin and sweet, honeyed tears. It was everything she could do not to scream, and her struggling was ineffective. The witch was impossibly strong for an old woman, and holding the fairy immobile, licked her armpit, making growling noises when she struggled. The raspy tongue, more like a cat’s than a human’s, lapped up the terror sweat that was rapidly forming. The witch wanted her to scream, and that would justify the bite. Maleficent knew that, but it was almost impossible to not utter a sound at the horrible sensation of the witch’s tongue in her armpit, licking the sensitive skin and salty-sweet sweat. “Scream, you wicked fairy,” the witch growled. “Scream!”  
The fairy was breathing loudly and shaking, but she said nothing. She was not about to let the witch win this easily. The door opened and Aurora wandered in, bringing with her a big basket of mushrooms. “Look,” the princess happily declared. “Look what I found for lunch! Mushrooms!”  
The witch’s jagged, brown and yellow fangs immediately retracted into her more usual filthy gray-black and broken teeth, and she let the terrified fairy loose from her grasp, and turned around. “Yes, very good, perky princess! Very well done indeed,” she said as she looked at the big basket of mushrooms. “Your true love over here and I were just discussing how she’s strong enough now to help you.”  
“Oh, good!” Aurora smiled brightly. “What are we going to do?”  
“Spin!” the witch laughed.  
“What?” Aurora asked, not quite understanding what the witch was talking about. Her idea of spinning was dancing around in circles with the pixies. Thinking of whom, she thought, she hadn’t seen them since she and Phillip had set out from the dairy woman’s cottage with Snow White and Maleficent to find the Yaga’s hut. They must have flown back to the palace, she thought.  
“Got a lot of undone chores,” the witch cackled, “Work I don’t have time to do myself, and winter’s coming. See that pile of wool in the corner? Move it out of the way.”  
Aurora looked at what she had thought was the world’s hugest dust ball, and upon rolling it out of the way, discovered that underneath it was a spinning wheel. “Oh,” she said with a slight shudder, “That type of spinning! But I’ve never done that before.” She had only one experience with such devices, and it was a bit traumatic. While awakening had been sweetly delightful, especially to see her beloved fairy friend, enduring the false death had been rather choking and horrible. She looked at the spindle and shuddered again.  
“No worries,” the witch answered. “Besides, I need you to do the cooking and the outside chores. This is a perfect job for her.” The witch cackled to herself in delight at the fairy’s unhappy expression. “Pick her up and put her over there.” Aurora did as she was instructed, and as gently as possible, lifted the fairy, and set her down on the wooden stool by the spinning wheel. Maleficent looked back at the witch, who was cackling with a sly grin, and she realized what the witch had planned. “Sixteen years of unspun fate,” the witch said, “Get started.”  
Aurora tried to make Maleficent as comfortable as possible on the dirty old wooden seat, using a sheepskin as a pad, and then looked around. “I don’t think we have anything like this in Fairyland,” Aurora said. “She probably doesn’t know how to use this any better than I do.”  
“Meaning all either one of you can do is hurt yourselves or someone else with it?”  
Aurora cheerfully agreed, “Yes, yes that is exactly the case.”  
The witch laughed and tapping the spinning wheel with her staff then said, “This is a tool. Tools are used to accomplish useful work. Your true love over there took perverse delight in preventing everyone else from doing just that, and by causing all the spinning wheels to be burnt, destroyed the economy of West End and made sure everyone went without.” She looked over at Maleficent, to ensure that she was listening and comprehended her point. The fairy was looking quite resentful, as the witch continued, picking up a ball of fluff. “And here is how we spin,” she demonstrated the operation of the wheel, and then let Aurora try. The princess made a mess. “It takes practice,” the witch laughed. “Both of you sit here and keep at it. When you can create a thread that doesn’t break, tell me. I’ve got mushrooms to eat!” So saying the witch seated herself comfortably on her bed with the big basket of mushrooms, happily chewing and snorting while she watched their continued attempts at making thread. It was all quite hilarious for the witch, educational for Aurora, and pure pointless misery for the fairy, which added another level of enjoyment for the witch.   
After the witch ate her lunch, she announced that she was going out, and that they were to have produced one spool of thread by the time she returned. Then, she got into her flying cauldron and was off and away into the air. Maleficent sighed, and watched Aurora spin the wheel, which was operated by a foot pedal. How was she supposed to do that? She was uncomfortable as well, some feeling had started to come back into her hips and thighs, and not in a good way, either. This wasn’t a skill she was ever going to need, she could create fairy garb, she didn’t need to weave rough garments from raw fibers. Even leather, like the makeshift deerskin Aurora wore, was better than this! Shoulders aching and hands sore from squeezing wool and picking out the thorns and rat turds, she just put her arms out and smiled, indicating to Aurora that she wanted to be picked up. So the princess let the wheel slow to a stop, and carried the fairy back to their fur nest. It felt wonderful to lie down again, and she closed her eyes. “You can rest for a while,” Aurora said, “But don’t let the witch catch you asleep if the work isn’t done!” The fairy looked askance at her; this sort of dreary labor wasn’t a fairy activity, it was a human one. Even paying attention to it was a strain for a fairy.  
The resting was sadly brief, and Aurora woke her long before the pain and soreness had gone away, and lifted her up, back into the seat by the dreadful spinning wheel. “I’ve been working at this,” Aurora told her, “And my results are clumsy at best, but she didn’t say the thread had to be great, she said there had to be a spool of it…” A very long afternoon passed, and when the witch returned, Aurora happily told her that they had created some passable thread.  
“We,” the witch asked Aurora, “Or you?” She surveyed the scene, looking askance at the fairy, who was uncomfortable and bored. “There are those who say no one can be given a soul, that it must be earned through suffering,” the old hag said, talking first to Aurora but eyeing Maleficent. “Just to be sure, we’ll do both,” she cackled, delighting in the fairy’s look of resentful wariness. “After all, the existing spirit must care for the newly acquired soul, that they might merge together properly, and as the princess can tell you, soulfulness is enhanced by suffering. When the soul and spirit are rubbed raw, they are shared and enhanced, and will bond together in a far finer way. Selfishness and arrogance cause stultification and a withering; which after all that we have done, is to be avoided at all costs. Hahaha!” So she smacked the unappreciative fairy who would have disagreed if she had been allowed to speak, three times in the foot with her staff and laughed. “This spinning wheel is now enchanted,” she declared, “A fairy seated here doesn’t need to use her feet to make it spin, the wheel will do that on its own. This magic will free up her true love for other, far more important chores, like making my dinner.” The witch laughed as Maleficent looked sad indeed, and the hag barked orders to Aurora to get cooking.   
“You’ll be fine, now,” Aurora said hopefully, giving her beautiful fairy friend a kiss, and going over to the pot and the oven. She started adding some more water to the soup, and looked back over her shoulder at what the witch was doing. Maleficent looked extremely unhappy while the old witch glared at her.  
“The perky princess has chores to do,” the hag said coldly. “This is your fate, so this is your task. What fate do you want to spin for yourself? Would you do a better job if you thought it was your future instead of someone else’s past? I daresay you would! Instead of sulking, you’d be spinning those bits of straw in the wool into gold, now wouldn’t you?” Maleficent looked at her and wondered. Was she supposed to be spinning her own future, or was it the sixteen years of unspun fate the witch had implied before? “I’m not going to tell you,” the hag replied to her unspoken question. “I think I can let that be a surprise.”  
Maleficent sighed and wondered. This wasn’t the sort of surprise she thought she might like very much. But, just to err on the side of caution, she decided to make a greater effort. It might be her own fate that she was spinning, or in a twisted quirk of magical justice, she might be re-spinning Aurora’s after the curse, and her efforts held up in comparison to the princess’ selfless devotion and efforts on her behalf. Then, found utterly lacking, she might wither into some sort of toad, to dwell forever in the hag’s hut, tattle-telling upon the witch’s next victims. Did the witch have that kind of power, she wondered briefly. The witch turned and glared at her, then went back to smoking her grimy pipe and slurping something, steaming and greasy, from her skull mug. The gold coin eyes seemed to wink at her, and a feeling of real fear went through the fairy, and she felt like a doll, one that the witch had created for her own amusement, after tricking Clecie. A doll if she was lucky, she realized, people didn’t eat dolls.   
There was also something extremely unsatisfying about sitting there spinning, and she quickly figured out what it was. The bag was bottomless. No matter how much she did or how fast she went, the same amount of furry wool wads remained in the bag. There being no other options, she spun. Day after day, she spun.


	23. Two Bodies and One Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora and Maleficent make love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malora fans, this is it! After all that storyline and plot development, finally the characters get together!

Chapter 23  
Two Bodies and One Soul

As mid-autumn turned into late fall, and the leaves were turning colors in the forest outside, their lives had settled into a pattern. The princess cooked and cleaned for the witch, doing whatever outdoor chores she was assigned, while the fairy was forced to sit at the spinning wheel, respinning fate. Collecting firewood, gathering eggs, feeding the chickens, caring for the horses, or dressing game were the most common tasks the old hag ordered Aurora outside to perform, and while she was gone, the witch took her opportunities to torment Maleficent. The terrifying old hag had an infinite number of tricks to play, of which the armpit licking had been just the start. She felt much safer when Aurora was around. It wasn’t that the princess could have done anything to stop the Yaga from doing whatever she chose, it was more that the old wild hag seemed to enjoy her company, and didn’t act up so much when she was around. Late in the evening, lying in their cozy nest, Aurora held Maleficent gently, kissing her fairy love, and said softly, “I wish you could tell me what you are thinking and feeling.”  
The witch paused her smelly smoking and laughed raucously from across the room. “Ain’t that hard to figure out, is it? She wants you to spread her legs and taste her sauce!” howled the witch. Aurora laughed at the bawdy joke, and the fairy in her arms blushed. While the old hag delighted in lewd humor, her fairy love was shaken by it. Not that she didn’t enjoy Aurora’s touch and kisses, only that she was intensely shy and reserved. The princess was just wise enough to know that her skittishness was that of a wild creature that had been injured, and so was quiet and gentle with her. Laughing at the hag’s jokes, she let the fairy have her privacy, planning her own queries for later. When they finally made love, she wanted it to be beautiful, and so let her beloved wait. The last thing Aurora would ever want was for Maleficent to feel used or hurt by her, or to repeat the cruelties that her father had done. She would rather wait forever and receive nothing than that. But looking at the silent, blushing fairy, she had a feeling that she wouldn’t have to wait forever, just a little while longer.   
Several weeks later she gazed into the fairy’s eyes, so deep and sparkling green, and kissed her softly. The cold winds of winter were upon them full force, and sometimes they shivered in their fur nest, especially if Aurora fell asleep for more than a few hours, and let the fire die down. She was wondering how she was to take Maleficent out with her while she worked, without letting the fairy freeze to death in the cold. Or even if she should; she was supposed to leave her sad and beautiful fairy friend at the spinning wheel every morning, to re-spin fate. The witch was most adamant about that, and Aurora had noticed that while the hag was somewhat jovial with her, strange cruelties were meted out to Maleficent behind her back. Although the fairy could not speak, and so tell her what was happening, she was coming to realize that other things went on. She closed her eyes and rested, while the fairy nursed. She didn’t need to any longer, she simply liked to, and it was a sensual delight that they continued, neither wanting to cease. Instead of falling asleep, she noticed that the fairy’s hands were gently exploring her body, and the sucking at her breast had become very playful and deliberate. Her tongue pulled and teased the nipple, flicking it slightly and lapping up the milk. When Aurora opened her eyes, she saw in those springtime green fairy eyes that same breathless, lustful expression she had seen once before, when the witch had told her of the fairy’s awareness. Maleficent kissed her way across her chest to the other breast, and did the same thing, looking up at her in desire, emerald eyes sparkling intensely while Aurora gently touched her long, mahogany hair, and smiled in enjoyment at the wonderful softness of it. So different, she thought, than her own curly, golden princess-tresses. Maleficent’s hair was heavier, yet slipped through her fingers with feathery lightness. She sighed deeply at the sensations flowing through her, and trembled as her dream was about to come true. The fairy had worked both nipples up into stiffness, and drained both breasts down into thick, slow hindmilk. Lapping luxuriously and slowly, she first kissed Aurora with gentle pressure and a flick of her tongue. Then, to Aurora’s surprise, she left off of kissing her lips and began a slow, gentle descent down her body, past the well-loved, wet breasts, to the area farther down. Shifting lower, Maleficent pushed herself nearly off the furs lying on the floor, and pulling the cloak fully off, kissed the golden curls, waiting for her answer. She looked up at Aurora, who was waiting breathlessly to see what the fairy was going to do. She thought she knew, but said nothing, smiling and enjoyed the moment, inching closer and spreading her own legs out of the way, making it easier for her to keep kissing. Aurora sighed in surprise and delight as the fairy’s tongue found the softest and most delicate of spots, giving her a wonderful feeling of wetness and desire. She breathed deeply and felt the fairy’s lips and tongue doing the same gentle lapping and sucking to a little bit in her nether lips, making her tingle and feel like she was flying. Just as she had felt with her nipples, she felt like a wonderful, frayed edge piece of her soul slid out in a silver beam of light and liquid. She exclaimed in delight, as an intense pleasure spread throughout her body, and made her feel fluttery, from her eyelashes to her toes, which wiggled in sudden enjoyment. The fairy backed off a little, continuing her kisses, waiting for Aurora to tell her what to do next; if she wanted more, or if that was enough. More would have been delightful, but Aurora realized that her beloved fairy was probably cold lying there on the bare floor, and if she were not already tired and uncomfortable, soon would be. A chilly wind was blowing in through the window, and the fire was low. So she sat up and said, “Thank you, that was beautiful. Would you like me to do the same to you?” The fairy smiled back at her, green eyes sparkling and lighting up in anticipation. After so long of wanting and waiting quietly in the shadows, her heart always hidden and her desires shielded, yes, oh yes she did! Cherishing Aurora more than anything, she had dreamt of the moment when they might truly make love. Aurora laughed softly, and sat up, gently lifting the fairy off the cold floor, and back onto the bear skin, admiring her beauty in the mellow amber glow of the firelight. Her skin was no longer so pale, and her lips had recovered their claret beauty. Irresistible, she thought, and admired the lovely fairy anew, overjoyed that after all those years, she was finally going to get her heart’s desire. “I’ve waited so long to do this! You’re so beautiful, I’m glad you’re finally ready. Now, I think I know what you will like,” she said, lying next to her, and warming her up with her hands, glad that she had the chance to experience other women first at White Castle, and that now she could seduce her beloved properly, instead of just giggle in girlish delight as she might have years ago. Her hands felt hot and sweaty as she explored the lovely, soft pale skin beneath, and she realized that despite their age difference, most of those years Maleficent had spent alone. Two and a half party-filled weeks at White Castle had given her more experience with giving and receiving pleasures than forty years alone in the Moors had done for the fairy. Aurora kissed her gently, and tried to relax her with long, soothing touches. The fairy’s feet were like little blocks of blue ice, and her arms and legs were chilled. Aurora took the beautiful dark fairy in her arms, and lay next to her, warming her with her body heat, which radiated from her onto the fairy’s cool skin. She kissed her lover, and explored her with a gentle touch. She caressed her, and tasted for the first time the pale skin of her breast. Maleficent took a deep breath, and sighed silently in contentment. She couldn’t speak with her voice, but she could certainly convey her meaning with a touch. Aurora’s warm lips were on her cool nipple, an intermittent chilling breeze blowing over them from the witch’s drafty, rattling window. She trembled in silent desire, touching Aurora’s glittering, golden hair, and enjoying the sensation of feeling her soft, warm skin and the delightful pressure of her fingertips flowing lightly across her body.   
With a mischievous smile, Aurora began kissing her way down Maleficent’s body. Holding her beloved with intent, she began with a deep, lover’s kiss, savoring the moment, so she could remember forever the wonderful feelings and sensations of being together. From her lips she moved downward, lightly creating arousal with her wet tongue and excited fingertips. Aurora could feel the energy she was drawing up in her lover’s body, and created a deep connection between the two of them; made of soul stuff. The fairy inhaled sharply as she felt that newly formed part of her stirred into life. She was alive again, and not just this budding soul, but her body too was trembling beneath Aurora’s fingers. The palm of her hand pushed the energy around, from the center of her being to the edges, and cold flesh was reinvigorated, drawn back into life again. She breathed deeply, and felt her body awakening and returning to life with waves of anticipation and delight. It was everything she could do not to give voice to her feelings. She bit her own lip and tongue to stop from crying out.  
Instead, she ran her hands through Aurora’s beautiful golden hair, and enjoyed the tender caresses of the lovely woman who was giving her such pleasure. Tendrils of soul emotion emanated from their fingertips as they tentatively felt each other. Hands gently slid over bare skin in the dying firelight, and they were alive with excitement, feeling that spiritual web beginning, that would forever bind the two of them in a whole new way. Kissing her beautiful fairy lover again, the princess continued her explorations, and her tongue finally finding its long, lingering way down her body, arrived at the most delicate of spots, that exquisite point where magic and pleasure could come together in a very special way.   
Aurora had wanted her fairy friend, longed for and desired her so intensely for years, and so savored the giving of her love, and wanted her touch to be healing as well. She had done it before, and she wanted to do it again, now. With her tongue and fingertips bestowing all the magic and grace within her, she pulled their souls together in a swirling, powerful vortex of energy. She heard her fairy lover breathing heavily and trembling at her touch. Within the sweetest of touches, she could still feel that her lover was holding something back, and wondered what it might be. But she also perceived that the fairy was still very delicate, and might not have the strength for too much. So cradling her tongue around the spot she knew would delight, she gently caressed, her hands continuing to move the energy between the two of them. Aurora wanted her fairy lover to reacquire her voice in a sudden burst of sweeping ecstasy, and so she held her there, waiting for it.   
It was an exquisite, sweet agony for Maleficent, who realized what Aurora was waiting for. But she had function in her voice, she simply couldn’t dare speak or utter a wordlike sound. But feeling began to spread throughout her body, energizing those parts that felt lifeless, using the powerful fire that was Aurora’s own life force. With several heavy breaths, the fairy bit her own lip, and let the waves of pleasure her lover was giving her flow freely. Resisting the temptation to cry out, she climaxed and felt everything that her body was doing, without speaking. Aurora saw her bite down hard on her lower lip as she peaked, and wondered why. But she let her lover enjoy the last trembling waves of pleasure before she lay down beside her and asked.   
“You’re silent still,” Aurora whispered into her ear. “I can feel you, sense you, and heal you, but still, you are silent.”  
Maleficent looked into Aurora’s eyes, and breathing heavily, with a slight smile, shook her head. I want so much to tell you, she thought, but no temptation could ever be as great as what you just put me through! She wrapped her arms around her dear princess, and kissed her, while Aurora returned her embrace, and they felt their heartbeats together.   
“Breathe with me,” Aurora told her, and Maleficent did as she was urged, matching her inhaling and exhaling with her lover’s. Their breathing created movement within their bodies, and the vortex of energy they had created with their lovemaking took on a life of its own. First swirling along with their breathing, then ebbing and flowing along with a greater rhythm, Maleficent recognized magic. This was different than her own magic, and so she didn’t attempt to control it, but rather trusted her lover and flowed along with the energy. Aurora played with the light and the energy that she had created from and between their spirits, bringing the fairy an exquisite joy that was unlike anything she had experienced before. Her body was in a state of extreme pleasure, as was her mind, and this newly acquired soul-spirit. She realized that Aurora really did love and desire her, in every sense. Their hearts beat together, and Maleficent realized that she was holding Aurora tightly to her, perhaps too tightly, her arms and legs clasped around her lover in joy. “I love you,” Aurora whispered to her. Maleficent kissed her gently, and wished so much that she could simply speak and tell Aurora of her love in return. A cycle of energy had been created between them, their bodies and souls enmeshed. She sighed, starting to feel exhausted from lovemaking, and about to fall asleep in the arms of the one she adored, when the witch came banging through the door.  
“What?” the old witch shouted. “Who let the fire go out?”  
Aurora sighed, and giving her fairy love a quick kiss, said, “I’ll be right back.” So wrapping a cloak around her naked body, she went over to the fire and began stoking it back to life again. “I’m sorry, Grandmother,” Aurora said politely, “I was distracted and almost fell asleep.”  
“I don’t give a damn,” the witch grumbled. “You girls can lick and finger each other all night long, just don’t let the fire go out!”   
“Yes, Grandmother,” Aurora agreed, and having successfully gotten the fire going again, crawled back into their soft fur nest, and cuddled up. She took her fairy love in her arms once again, and feeling her willing arms wrapping around her in return, looked into her glittering eyes and said, “I love you, darling, forever.” The fairy smiled at her in return, as Aurora realized that some of the shining in her eyes was tears.


	24. Writing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After making love for the first time, Maleficent wonders if she is really worthy of Aurora's love.

Chapter 24  
Writing

Diaval knew what Maleficent wanted, a piece of paper and something to write with. But there were no such things in the forest, so he had to fly a long distance to a human habitation, hoping to find some paper he could steal. Taking his new lady friend with him, he searched the towns and towers, until he found a scroll with nothing written on it, and a stoppered up vial of ink. Quickly he seized them up in his talons and was out the window, on their way back to the Yaga’s hut. Unfortunately, in their absence the cottage had once again gotten up on its chicken legs and run away. Asking the other ravens and crows, he was able to find out which direction it had gone in. As the Yaga was very fond of eating birds, most of them fled in terror when they saw the hut coming, and finding an eyewitness who would even talk to him about it took quite a while. So it was weeks before he found the hut again. When he did however, it was unmistakable. He flew in through the window, and looked around. Fortunately, the witch was gone, and Aurora was gathering firewood. Maleficent was seated before a spinning wheel, looking decidedly unenthusiastic about her task. She looked up, and when she saw what he carried with him, brightened up immediately. He gave her the ink and paper, and she patted his head gratefully.   
Transforming into a man, he said, “I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long, but the hut ran off while I was out finding the ink!”  
She smiled and nodded, letting the boring spinning wheel slow to a stop. She was so grateful for his help that she kissed his hands, and he marveled at that. Something in her had changed, and he wondered what it was. Then he realized that her eyes had changed slightly, and that she no longer had a predator’s gaze, but rather seemed more like the Sylvan Elves, who forever had the starlight reflected in their eyes. The fiery red and bronze flecks were gone, replaced with the golden and silvery sparkles that the Fair Folk normally had. As the eldest of the Children of the Gods, the Elves had longer lives, were more beautiful, and had innate magical powers that the later peoples like dwarves and men did not. When the Queen of Light had first created them, she did so in the twilight, and so the reflection of the stars was kindled forever in the eyes of their descendants. Birds of course, had been created beforehand, and were tasked with singing in the background to enhance the experience of the Gods and the Fey. Feeling quite noble and avian, he turned back into one, and hid up in a corner, just in case the witch returned unexpectedly with a craving for raven. For one of the ancient goddesses, the Baba Yaga was remarkably unconcerned with her appearance, and in addition had a voracious appetite for eggs and birds.   
Maleficent, having thanked Diaval for his help, set to work writing upon the scroll. She had to use one of her own feathers, but it was a twinge of pain that she did not begrudge. There was so much that she wanted and needed to say to Aurora! Quickly, she began. Wasting as little time, ink, and paper as possible, she described the bargain foisted upon her by the witch, and how she was restrained from speaking or using magic for seven years, and the consequences of doing so. She also described her mother’s trade, and the oathbreaker’s curse, wishing that she had told Aurora of it before, when she was able to use her voice.  
Then came the harder truths. She stared at the scroll, composing her thoughts. Then, wondering how much time she had, she simply began to write. Dearest Aurora, she wrote, I thank you for your love and kindness towards me, which I do not at all deserve, but am forever grateful for. I am evil, and it is a part of me. There is a wild cruelty that permeates me, however much I might wish to be free of it. It is like a stain upon my soul, and woven into my heart. Although I love you, I have no right to do so, and certainly not to enjoy the sort of pleasures we shared last night. I am cursed, and I cannot draw you down into it with me. Everyone I love will die, and all that I do will turn to dust and ashes. I cannot accept your love. You have offered to sacrifice seven years of your life for me, time you should be enjoying with someone who has a good heart and can truly love you back, not be drawn down into the underworld for my sake…  
She looked up and saw both Aurora and the witch looking at her.   
“If you ain’t working, you’d best be doing something useful,” the hag said. Maleficent didn’t really want the Yaga to see what she had been writing, but the witch simply took it out of her hands, and read it. The fairy worried that the old hag was going to tear it up, or simply keep the paper, but instead she grunted and said, “That’s a good start,” handing it back. “You need to add some more to the part about you being undeserving and grateful.”  
“May I read it?” Aurora asked curiously, wondering what was on that piece of paper. Maleficent handed it to her, and waited. At least they now had a way to communicate!   
“You’re not evil,” Aurora smiled kindly, taking her fairy love’s hand. “You’ve just got a spark of mischievousness. It’s not a bad thing, although it seems to make you do bad things…” she laughed, and her fairy love smiled along with her. “But I’m so glad that now we have a way to explain things to each other! And I definitely still want to enjoy pleasures with you. I’ve been trying to seduce you for almost four years, and finally succeeded! I’m not about to stop now!” Aurora smiled, and enjoyed the pleasantly surprised expression on the fairy’s face. Then she laughed, and said, “Do you remember when I took my dress off and tried to pull you with me into the river and you stiffened up like an icicle and told me you didn’t like to get wet and ran away? Or when I put my hands in your pockets? Or when I put the daisy chain on your head and tried to kiss you?”  
Maleficent certainly did remember events like that. At first she had thought that the girl was just very comfortable with herself and enjoyed playing. Or very curious about what fairies kept under their gowns and in their pockets. Then she had wondered if Aurora was touching her for more than friendship and perhaps pity at her inability to have fun. But she would never have, not then, whatever machinations the pretty princess had contrived, and as she now understood, they were failed attempts at seduction.   
Aurora touched her hand, and ran a finger up her arm, while smiling a knowing little smile. “It took two sleeping death spells, a round of curses, an attack by seven rude dwarves and a visit to the Yaga’s hut, but at last, by the mercy of the gods, I finally got my wish of making love with you! It certainly takes a lot to get your clothes off!” Aurora laughed, and Maleficent laughed silently with her. She had never quite considered that perspective before. “Edward had it easy! Clecie ran towards him, not away to hide in some dark place! I watched you, imagining what it would be like to pull that string that held your robes on, and watch them slide off. I wanted to know what your lips felt like, and how wonderful it would be to feel you naked and breathless against me, and to taste you. I imagined scene after scene, and wanted you so much, but you always drew away and looked frightened. You believed I didn’t think like that?” Aurora laughed, taking her hand, and stroking it, slowly and sensuously, fingertips to elbow, savoring the skin to skin contact. “I’ve wanted you for a long, long time, always wondering what it would feel like to hold you in my arms, and feel your body next to mine. I had so many fantasies of how I wanted you, and what we would do together, all sweat and sweet whispers! How much I wanted to hear you say that you loved me, and that you would be mine! And there were plenty of times I pretended to be asleep, and hoped you would lie down and put your arms around me, whispering words of the delights we would discover together. I’ve had so many dreams where you held me all night long, and I gave you climax after climax, and you would cry out my name, and tell me how much you loved me in return! I was so disappointed when instead of joining me on the bed and confessing your undying devotion after Awakening me, you were crying. That would have been the perfect time! Do you remember how amorous and desirous you felt when I Awakened you from the sleeping death? It was the same, my delicate, lovely fairy, only as a human, I felt it more. I had a woman’s physical needs relatively early in life, and I thought that long-ago day at the river that I could just take you in my arms. But oh, no, it wasn’t going to be that easy! I had to chase you down for several years! Even after you said I had your heart, and I thought certainly that you knew you had mine, you drew back from my touch. Your eyes always called out to me, to come hither and warm up more than only your chilly heart. So yes,” Aurora said, embracing her beautiful, blushing fairy friend, “Having finally thawed you out, and made love with you, after all that time, I definitely want to continue sharing pleasures!” She kissed Maleficent, who smiled shyly, and returned her ardor, nearly twinkling with delight. Only pixies really twinkled with magic dust, but occasionally other fairies gave off sparks. It was a truly rare moment that a dark fairy was so moved to love’s sweetness that she glittered in such a way.   
The old witch cackled, and told Aurora, “For a while, anyway. She managed to waste most of her own soft, sweet years. Now she’s almost old enough to start cutting her vaginal teeth. But I’m sure when it happens you’ll be the first to know!”  
Maleficent gasped and threw a spool at the old witch, who pointed at her and laughed. She wanted to scream, and tell Aurora that horrible statement wasn’t true! Instead she had to write it down, and indignantly showed the witch as well. The witch howled with laughter, and flopped down on her bed, waiting to be served dinner.  
“I wouldn’t mind it,” Aurora said, setting the scroll aside and embracing her lover with a delighted laugh. “Quite honestly, I can see an upside to it. If I wasn’t enjoying what was happening, I could end it.”  
The witch cackled, studying them with her one good eye, “Yes, there is that. Now where’s my dinner?”  
Maleficent wasn’t pleased. She took Aurora’s arm and pulled on her, making certain that she saw the negating sign. The witch always favored Aurora, and laughed at her jokes, while showing her cruel side to the fairy when they were alone. It’s not fair, Maleficent thought. Not fair at all! The witch turned and stared at her, giving her a cold assessment indeed, and the fairy realized that she should simply let the matter drop.  
So she did let the argument end, but was thrilled by a deeper truth and joy. Aurora loved her, and had for many years, when Maleficent herself had been too frostbitten to feel. Everything that the beautiful princess had said made sense, and with a leap of trust, the dark fairy dared to believe it. She gave herself over to the one whose sweet, soulful singing had led her back from the Halls of the Dead, and whose body gave her both life and pleasure. Yes, she thought, she would dare, and she would let herself love again. Tentatively, with halting faith, she reached out and took Aurora’s hand, squeezing it gently. She couldn’t speak, but she could use her touch. With a hesitant smile, she accepted her beloved’s invitation. Yes, she acknowledged, they would be together. Aurora squealed in delight, and embraced her, giving her a gentle yet enthusiastic kiss.   
“Everything will be wonderful, you’ll see!” Aurora exclaimed, and swept the silent fairy up in her arms and twirling around. “The time will just fly by! Your feet will heal, and your lovely horns will grow back. I’ll do my chores, and you’ll respin fate, and then all the curses will be lifted off of us, and the clouds will vanish away. Then we will be free and together, forever! We will dance and sing by the riverside, and make love whenever we choose! We’re going to be so happy, and you are everything I’ve ever wanted!” She stopped when she heard the witch laughing so hard that she snorted and fell over. “If you please,” the princess said most regally, “We’re in love.” She was less than pleased when the witch only slapped her thigh and pointed, barely able to stand through her guffaws. The moment ruined, Aurora set Maleficent back down at the spinning wheel, and told her, “Until later, my love. I think the witch wants her dinner.”   
Several months later, the witch opened one eye, hearing the sounds of joyful lovemaking once again coming from the furry nest on the floor. She grunted in annoyance; that wretched fairy had regained the use of her legs quite quickly once she really wanted to. Aurora’s giggling laughter, and the noisy flapping of a pair of wings, along with a lot of heavy breathing awakened her every morning, and bothered her oftentimes in the evenings. Sometimes the witch left after dinner, and they were still at it come morning light when she returned, her cauldron full of treasures. True love’s first rapturous physical delights, she thought, the very sight and sounds of it could make her nauseous. Bothering to look, she saw first the silhouette of the fairy against the wall in the firelight, and the pretty princess’ excited moans as she climaxed. Dark fairies were infamous for their deep loves and desires, and the witch had been waiting to hear a breathless, “Oh, Aurora!” or some such exclamation, uttered in a mindless moment of passion, that could result in the forfeiting of their agreements. But the fairy never said a word. She never even made a noise other than her loud, irritating wing flapping and heavy breathing. The witch was truly disappointed, to have put up with all of that, almost half the winter long, for nothing! Nothing! Nothing! Not a word! Come spring, she thought, that lazy fairy was going outside with the princess to cut wood and perform useful work! She spent her days at the spinning wheel, undoing all the damage she had done, spinning the witch’s unending bag of fluff into magic threads. If she was well enough to have sex with the princess all night long, she was certainly strong enough to do more chores, the witch thought as she heard more gleeful, exciting tittering from the princess, and loud flapping that sounded like a pair of enormous lovebirds mating on the floor. The witch growled, and looking over towards the fireplace, she saw them sitting up, holding each other tightly while they kissed, with their legs entwined and those noisy wings flapping, flapping, flapping! They might be too broken to fly, but she certainly still made a lot of noise with them! The fairy closed her eyes in a moment of breathless ecstasy, tilting her head back, while her lover spoke softly to her and encouraged her to climax. The witch watched in profound irritation as the princess caressed her lover into a fluttering, flapping, breathy orgasm that concluded without a sound coming from her lips. Maleficent opened her eyes, and smiled in delight at Aurora, who kissed her and said, “That was beautiful! I love you so much…”   
The witch couldn’t stand another sweet, twitterpainted moment, and shouting, “Enough! Stop it!” threw her magic boot at the fairy’s head. She missed, and the dirty old boot bounced off one of her wings. Fortunately, being bounced off of a fairy was not what caused the portal to activate. Instead, it simply thumped to the floor. “I won’t listen to that any longer!” the witch declared, and raising her hands ordered them, “Sleep… sleep… sleep…” Chill winds blew up from beneath the house, and the hut rocked on its crazy chicken legs, while smoky orange tendrils emanated from the witch’s fingertips, and covered the cottage in a dusky amber darkness. Then the witch cackled as her spell began to take effect.  
Aurora sighed, her racing heartbeat and heavy breathing slowing rapidly. She kissed her beloved, and lay down on her back to rest, sighing loudly and lifting her sweaty arms up over her head, enjoying the afterglow and the chill on her overheated skin. She thought but a moment, falling asleep almost immediately. Maleficent resisted the powerful old witch’s spell for a few seconds more, and her eyelids wanting to close, she lay down next to Aurora. Covering them both with one of her wings, the other tucked behind her, she pulled the sheepskins around them for warmth, and unable to resist the heaviness of the sleep spell any longer, curled up beside Aurora. The slow deep breathing of her lover was all she heard as her eyes closed, and remained that way until spring.   
“Aaaahh,” the witch sighed. “Finally! Peace and quiet! What did I ever agree to do this for?” She lay back down on her bed, and commenced grumbling to herself, “Fairies! Most troublesome creatures around except for humans, and I agreed to take these two on for seven years! Ai! Ai! Poor old me! Such a task…” True, she had to do her own cooking and cleaning, but she was so sick of listening to the sounds of lovemaking that she didn’t care. And worse, the witch fumed, the wretched fairy never spoke! Never, in all that writhing and flapping, did she ever cry out or even moan. She was completely silent, while her lover giggled, squealed, and chattered away enough for both of them! For the rest of the winter, the lovebirds slept cozily in their little nest, hibernating through the darkest months of the year.


	25. Awakening in the Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After making love for the first time, and then trothing their devotion to one another, Aurora and Maleficent annoy the Yaga with their twitterpainted sweetness. Far away, Snow White awakens to the first day of spring and begs her husband to release her friends the dwarves from the castle dungeons.

Chapter 25  
Awakening in the Spring

A sweeter wind blew in through the windows of the grimy hut, and awakened the fairy with the first bright, warm day of spring. Opening her eyes, she realized that they had slept through the rest of the winter. She pushed herself up and felt thirsty. Aurora was still asleep beside her, so she leaned over and kissed her lover’s lips. Awaken, she thought, and the princess opened her eyes. Aurora smiled happily at her, until she looked around and realized where she was. So they were still in the witch’s dismal hut. So it hadn’t all been a bad dream!   
The witch was standing in front of her cauldron, stirring vigorously while swearing and cackling. She was certainly happy about something, like she was stewing up an enemy for dinner and taking great delight in the victory celebration. With a loud “Bwahahaha!” the witch turned around and noticed that her lovebirds were awake again, and obviously looking scared that they were going into the pot. “Oh,” she said, “You two again! Well, get up and get going!”  
Relieved that they weren’t being thrown into the boiling cauldron, Aurora kissed Maleficent, who embraced her affectionately in return. The witch was on them in a second. “No more of that!” the witch ordered. “No more keeping me awake with your noises! You keep it down or I’ll separate the two of you! Understand?” They both nodded, and stretched awake.  
Sleeping through the winter had helped the fairy tremendously. She awoke feeling far less pain, and the deep magical energies of the world flowed through her again. While the power of the Unseen once again blew beneath her, Maleficent’s wings, while mostly healed of open wounds, were nonetheless broken and useless. Aurora had healed them as best she could, but there was simply so much of them torn away and gone that they were mere vestiges and nothing more. The fairy also had no feeling in her feet, and walked with a slight limp. She did best with something to lean on, and Maleficent preferred that to be Aurora. The witch did not approve, and told Aurora to find her fairy friend a suitable staff or cane, and to make her use it.   
“I don’t mind carrying her,” Aurora laughed, and swung the surprised fairy up and into her arms. “She’s light as a feather!” Maleficent smiled at her, quite pleased. She would have laughed and trothed her affection along with her beloved, but because of the witch she couldn’t, so she just wrapped her arms around Aurora in return and delighted in her adoration.  
“No, no, no!” the witch admonished. “That won’t do at all! Put that lazy, spoiled thing down and teach her to walk on her own two feet again! In fact,” the witch grumbled, “Seven times round the yard with her, every day!” She grinned, enjoying the less than delighted look on the fairy’s face. “Hahaha,” the witch laughed, “Now go outside, and see that she makes herself a staff to lean on. Then make her walk around using it.”  
“Very well,” Aurora agreed, setting Maleficent back down on her feet. “That is what we shall do.” She was leading the fairy outside, arm around her waist, when the witch shouted more chores at them on the way out. “Why do I think that yelling at us is the most fun she’s had in years?” Aurora wondered out loud.  
Because it is, Maleficent thought but couldn’t say. She also wished she could explain to Aurora about Adrastia’s curse. It didn’t matter what type of staff, rod, or cane they located, or what they did with it, the real problem was the red-haired she-devil’s curse. Then she wondered if the Yaga’s assertion that all curses would be broken at the end of their seven years of service might also include that one. She hoped so; they would be here anyway, and if she never spoke to Adrastia again that would be fine. However, she thought that was not how things would likely go. Doubtless the she-devil was still looking for her, wanting her to remove the curse of ugly lying. Maleficent smiled to herself; she was uncomfortable, but Adrastia would be turning back into her own natural, rather hideous self every time she told a lie, which would be more or less constantly. Aurora gave her a funny look, wondering what was so entertaining about looking at sticks.   
Maybe, the princess thought, if you’re going to be leaning on a stick, you think about it a lot. She looked around at the stray limbs and branches littering the forest floor, and wondered what might be good for a staff. Aurora then noticed an interestingly shaped piece of bone, and realized that with some sanding, it would be a perfect fit… Best of all, she thought, she could pleasure herself and Maleficent at the same time, without the witch’s necessarily seeing what they were doing. Each other was the most important asset they had, and lovemaking was the center of their lives. What had been a secret, forbidden thought years ago was now more reliable than eating. Of course, annoying the witch with their joyful unions was one of the sweetest, most satisfying things they could do, but Maleficent was shy about such things, much more so than most humans. It didn’t help that the witch tormented the fairy when Aurora wasn’t around. Aurora had figured it out, though, even without Maleficent being able to speak.   
Having been awake all winter, while the fairy and the princess were asleep, Diaval had plenty of time to spend alone with his lady friend, and they were singing together, too, planning to make a nest. Almost no other species enjoyed the love songs of ravens, but the Baba Yaga found them delightful, and cawed and croaked right along with them when they were in the cottage. Not wanting to leave Aurora and Maleficent, they sought the witch’s permission to make their nest on top of the cottage, and the witch promised not to eat their fledglings.  
Meanwhile, far away in the grand palace atop the sparkling marble and granite cliffs, Snow White was also waking up to the first beautiful day of spring. She looked out her open window and sang with the birds, “Sing, sing, sing! Oh, my little friends! Spring in here! The most wonderful time of the year! The sun is shining, the trees are growing, life is beautiful! Fly up so free in the air! Sing, sing, sing! Oh, my little friends!”  
Hoping that the beauty of the day would sway her husband’s cold heart, she once again pled for the lives of the six remaining dwarves. “Oh, John, how wonderful it would be if my old friends could share this beautiful day with me! I do still miss the Seven Dwarves so much! Especially poor little Dopey, who is no longer with us! You know, it wasn’t really their fault! They were just trying to protect me. They thought that she was plotting against me…”  
“No.”  
“But John, dear, have some mercy! And she’s gone forever, too. What does it matter, now? Poor, insane Rose Red is dead, and so is dear Aurora with her! The witch has certainly eaten them, and it would make me ever so happy if you would release the six remaining dwarves from those dark, dismal dungeons! It makes me so sad to think of my friends trapped down there!”  
“They like dark places under the earth, and it pleases me to leave them there.”  
“Oh, John, have some pity! How has your heart become so hard?”  
“They murdered your sister with axes, and chopped off her head.”  
“She killed dear sweet Dopey with one of her spells! Poor little Dopey! He fell down dead, steaming with green fog! Now there’s only six dwarves left!”   
“Good for her, I’m glad she got one of those bastards before they succeeded in hacking her apart. Sitting in the dungeons eating three square meals a day is too good for them. I’d rather have their heads on pikes or speared to my front gate.”  
Snow White gasped in horror at such a terrible thing to say, and then looked askance at him, “Did you kiss Rose Red?”  
“What? No!”  
“You’re very loyal to her, and she did used to give you flirty looks,” Snow White said, “And you gave her those same glances right back!”  
“I was just being nice!” John said. “I treated her the same way as I would have any of my other guests, especially sensitive Elven ones.”  
“You were certainly devoted to her after the accident,” Snow White said suspiciously. “You, Rudyard and Aurora were in that room with her almost nonstop for three days!”  
“Snow White, nothing about that event was an accident! They had to have planned that out at least a week in advance, and then sat crouched there for who knows how long, waiting for her to use the door instead of the window! Nor was I devoted to her, as you are implying. Rudyard and I would have done the same magic for any one of our Elven friends, and tried to save their lives! The wizard and I were concerned about her suddenly awakening as a vampire,” John said. “We needed to be right there to subdue her in the event that occurred,” he explained for the hundredth time. “I am forever grateful to the gods that she didn’t! It would have been completely awful to have been forced to destroy her, especially if that girl had refused to leave. However, we could not in good conscience allow a vampire to be set loose to prey upon the city and countryside. My duty as king demands that I protect my people. So I did the best I could to revive her as a living woman, in accordance with Aurora’s wishes.” Maleficent was intelligent, too, so she probably wouldn’t have fought them initially, but rather have wept and pleaded while trying to escape, which would have made the whole thing take much, much longer, and been all the more heart wrenching and brutal when they did have to physically subdue and destroy her. Aurora would never have forgiven them, either. King John thanked the gods every day for sparing everyone that.  
“She certainly did her best to come between Aurora and Phillip,” Snow White pointed out. “She told me herself that she was in love with Aurora and was kissing her, trying to sway her out of marrying our son and into whatever nastiness she enjoyed.”  
“I did hear some stories from Phillip and Leonard that she liked pretty ladies,” the king answered. Maleficent had been quite beautiful, and so one of the court ladies whom he suspected was actually a prostitute had invited herself into the fairy’s bed and satisfied her curiosity. Prostitution was a vice he tried to keep to a minimum in their city, and especially the palace itself, but he was realistic enough to know that it went on anyway.   
“You certainly were nice to her. I think you kissed her,” Snow White said, crossing her arms.  
“I never touched your sister!”  
“You gave her love and healing energy from your heart and soul through your hands,” Snow White pointed out.  
“Those are the same cure severe wounds spells I would have used on my men,” he argued, “Because I’m nice to them, too! Nor have I kissed anyone but you! Snow White, I am not going to let those murdering dwarves out of the dungeon!”  
“But it makes me so sad to think of them, suffering down there! They’re very unhappy, and they all feel so terrible about what happened, but that they were just protecting me from her!”  
“Snow White, they’re lying to you. They want to get out of the dungeon, that’s what they want! They also want that awful belt that you insist upon wearing everywhere!”  
“John, they’ve been my best friends for years, and it makes me weep to see them suffering!”  
“Take off that belt! Oh, may the gods have mercy upon me for my advice gone awry in suggesting the dwarves make that thing! You’re as insane as your sister was before she died! Can’t you see that the dwarves just want to get out of the dungeons and steal back their treasure? And you would be lucky if they didn’t plant an axe in your skull the same as they did hers!”  
“I am not! That was very mean thing to say!” Snow White said, as she started crying, “And I still think that you loved her!”  
“What? Snow White, we have been over this before! I barely even spoke to her! She loved Aurora and whatever other girls she was seeing, and I love you!” Then, definitely not able to go back to sleep, he got out of bed and put his dressing robe on. “I’m going to have some breakfast. Please feel free to join me, or stay here and sing to your bird friends. Either which way, I will not, now or ever, let those wicked dwarves out of the dungeon alive!” He sighed in exasperation, and left the room.  
Snow White immediately stopped crying and stared angrily at the door. How would she ever free her friends if John was so stubborn? He must still be in love with Rose Red, her evil spells lingering on. She had charmed and ensorcelled Aurora to love her, breaking up the princess and Phillip, and had also been planning to steal John away, as well. She should have found her own husband, instead of chasing after her sister’s, and corrupting young girls with her deviant ways! Her wicked nastiness had known no bounds! Rose Red was truly her mother’s daughter, casting evil love spells upon innocent victims, and using her power to hurt and destroy. The true hearted and loyal dwarves had only been protecting her, and now they were wasting away in the dark dungeons! Somehow, Snow White had to help them.


	26. The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The true identity of the witch who turned the Beast into a beast, and her servants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. It always seemed to me that there needed to be a little more to it than just refusing to let an old woman in. What was her backstory? Why was the witch there, and what was she hoping to accomplish? Now, if he was cruel to her grandchildren, then the curse is quite fitting indeed.

Chapter 26  
The Beast

Whack, whack, whack! “Get up! And hurry with it! We’ve got things to do!” Her servants sat up in their nest, obviously less than enthusiastic at being woken up in the middle of the night. There was an early spring storm blowing sideways rain outside in the darkness, and occasionally spewing hail down upon the newly formed buds and blossoms. Aurora sighed, she wasn’t looking forward to going outdoors in that; for firewood, eggs, or anything else. “Get out of bed and let’s get going,” the witch hurried them, “We’ve got a visit to make.”  
Aurora and Maleficent drank some water and Aurora was about to make a very early breakfast, when the witch admonished, “No, no, no time for that! We’re going to be late! And I want you two looking like grabby, grimy, hungry little waifs indeed. Now, no talking from either one of you! This is important!” Then, she whacked each one of them on the head with her staff, transforming both the fairy and the princess into filthy, ragged little urchins. Matted hair, grimy gray rags barely held together with dirty brown patches, and no shoes. The princess’ beautiful golden hair was a dull, grime-laden brownish white, tangled and twisted into a true rat’s nest; her skin dirty and itchy. The fairy’s hair was in a similar state, but wound around her horns, and her broken wings were bare in patches, the feathers having fallen out. Bright red, infected looking wounds marked the spots where the dwarves’ axes had found their marks. They stared at each other in surprise, and then the witch hurried them out the door.  
“What have you done to us?” Aurora exclaimed.  
“I said no talking! She’s quiet, now you be silent as well!” the witch grumbled, “And help her if she has trouble walking. Now let’s go!”  
Mystified, they followed the witch outside and she ordered both of them into her flying cauldron. Aurora had to help the fairy climb in, and then the witch told them to hang on tightly, and have a care not to fall out, as the cauldron flew up and away, the witch rowing it with her magical oar.  
Maleficent was used to flight, but Aurora was not. The princess, disguised as a beggar child, peeked over the edge of the cauldron and watched in fascination as the ground receded underneath them. The heavy wind and rain was not pleasant, but the view was fascinating. She could see the rain both dropping upon them and falling away. Interesting as it was, she soon became chilled in the wind and rain, hunching back down with the fairy and under her wings, trying to keep warm and some of the rain off. A strange journey indeed, they finally arrived outside of a small castle standing at the top of a densely wooded hill. The witch circled around it once, and peeking over the edge despite their icy fingers and noses, they saw that while the keep was nicely painted and clean in the front, a tremendous amount of garbage had built up in the back, where what seemed like servants’ quarters and animal stalls festered and stank in abject filth. Crashing in the brush near the front of the castle, the witch hopped out and her urchins tumbled out after her, a huge splash of accumulated rainwater with them. They were wet, cold, and dressed only in rags, truly miserable when the chilly wind blew around them.  
“Now keep silent, both of you!” the witch admonished, and they followed her up the finely decorated walkway. It seemed almost obscene, compared with the filth and squalor they knew was behind the castle. Then again, neither the fairy nor the princess had the slightest idea why they were disguised as children and following the old witch up the walkway to begin with.  
Stopping at the door, the wind and rain still pouring down around them, the witch pounded on the door, hollering for help and begging for admittance.  
A pleasant, somewhat plump middle-aged woman answered the door, and asked what they wanted.  
“Help us, good woman,” the witch begged. “My granddaughters and I are caught in the storm. We need a place to stay, or the children might die.” They did look and feel terrible, indeed, both of the disguised urchins thought, and huddled together against the freezing wind. Both were hoping that the witch wasn’t going to make them stand out there in the cold until they did die.  
“Yes, of course!” the woman said, opening the door. “You poor old woman, and such sad… strange…” she added, looking at Maleficent, “Poor little children! Come with me to the kitchens, but be quiet! The master doesn’t like visitors.”  
The witch nudged them again to be silent, and gave them both a stern look as they entered the castle and followed the woman down the golden halls. They weren’t beautiful, but they were lavishly decorated. They looked at one another curiously, and noticed an immediate change as the woman led them through a pair of double doors which were fancy on the outside, but unpainted wood on the interior. Nothing else was painted or elaborate in the area, either. It was just a large kitchen and work area, sparsely furnished with a wooden table and chairs. A bubbling pot hung in a great fireplace and oven area, which seemed mostly unused. But whatever was in that pot smelled delightfully delicious, and the disguised children immediately recalled that they hadn’t eaten anything yet that day, or much the day before, and were extremely hungry. They hadn’t eaten anything tasty in much longer than that.  
“Sit down here,” the woman said to the hag, “And make yourself comfortable. Your children, too,” she added, smiling at them. “Let me get you some blankets, you’re so wet and cold!” So they sat next to the fire, and wondered what was going to happen next. The witch was doing a fine job of pretending to be some sort of harmless old beggar, with her granddaughters in tow. The kind woman who had let them in returned, and handed them blankets. She indulged herself a bit staring at the fairy child, but said nothing about her, only asking if they were hungry. Of course they were, and they nodded eagerly, Aurora clasping her hands and smiling hopefully. So the woman gave them each a bowl of the wonderful smelling soup from the cauldron, and added a piece of bread and cheese to it. “There you go,” she said happily, “That’s better! Where are you from?” she then asked while the witch noisily slurped her soup and the children ate, quicker than they normally would have. The impression of being starving beggars worked very well, because the woman seemed unsurprised at their desperation. “We don’t get many visitors around here, you know,” she added, waiting for a response.  
Aurora paused eating and touched Maleficent’s hand. At least they were eating better than they normally were, she grinned. Delicious cheese, fresh bread, and a hearty stew with beef and vegetables in it, Aurora smiled happily as she ate her supper. She hadn’t enjoyed a really good meal since arriving at the witch’s hut. The fairy laughed silently, nibbling at the bread and enjoying the warmth of the blankets and the fire, especially after the frigid, wet ride in the witch’s cauldron.  
“We are wanderers,” the witch replied, “Going from place to place, selling matchsticks and the like. The storm caught us by surprise, and washed all of our things away. We had no shelter from the storm.”  
“You are welcome to eat here,” was the answer, “But I cannot let you stay the night without the master’s permission. I’m only the cook. Wait here, and I will ask.” So saying she disappeared back out the double doors, and was gone long enough that they had ample time to finish their supper.  
When she did return, she brought the master of the castle back with her. “I have to see this,” he was saying, angry at having been woken up in the middle of the night to go look at freakish peasants, but not about to allow them to stay, sight unseen. Looking at them he uttered a scream of shock and horror. “Mrs. Potts! You stupid woman! Why did you let these horrid creatures into my house! Look at them! A filthy urchin stuffing herself, a gruesomely ugly old crone, and a cursed devil child! Throw them out immediately!”  
“Please have pity upon us,” the witch entreated. “My granddaughters and I have no place to stay, and it is an early spring storm blowing hard outside. We will freeze to death if you turn us back out into the night. Please let us stay here until the morning!”  
“Who cares?” the lord replied angrily, “Two less filthy wretches to beg alongside the road and one less subhuman beast to ravage the countryside! Granddaughter! Your son or daughter must have mated with a monster to get a wicked-looking little horned demon like that! You should have killed that freakish thing at birth, as any decent person would have done, instead of feed it and drag it around with you! Now out! Out! Out!”  
“Now that’s hard, your lordship,” the witch groveled, while the fairy child looked shocked, and like she was about to cry. Then her eyes seemed to change, and glow with anger behind the tears. The other urchin also looked outraged, and moved to block his access to the fairy girl. “Please just let us sleep here in the kitchen…”  
“Absolutely not! I don’t want you or those two filthy little beasts touching anything else in my kitchen or anywhere in my house! Especially that ugly monster-child of yours! Now, Mrs. Potts, you let these horrible, dirty creatures in here, you throw them back out! Now!”  
“Come along, little ones,” Mrs. Potts said sadly, gently ushering them towards the door. “We have to do what the master says…”  
“Have you no pity for homeless children, to throw them out into the storm?” the witch asked.  
“I won’t tell you again, you gross old beggar, get your hideous, filthy self and those two horrid, dirty children of yours, out of my house! I don’t care if you die, get out of here!”  
“And go we shall,” growled the witch in a low rumble, while the room darkened around her and both Mrs. Potts and the children stopped to stare. “We shall leave you, but not until you have learned a sharp lesson.” Then the witch’s shape seemed to fall away, as though it were only a bundle of rags, and a beautiful, tall elven enchantress stood in her place, a long white gossamer gown glittering with sparkling crystals, and with hair of radiant gold and brilliant, flashing violet eyes. Bright light emanated from her, and she was so beautiful that it was difficult to look upon her, and they all knew beyond any doubt that they beheld a goddess. “Take the form of a beast,” she proclaimed, in a clear, firm voice, pointing her finger at the lord, a prismatic spray of light and glitter emanating from her hand.  
The master of the castle began to shake, and to transform. His handsome face contorted, and his arms and legs went askew. Formerly tall and of graceful proportions, he became twisted and hideous, a dreadful, fanged beast with a monstrous face and a grotesquely bestial body. Mrs. Potts exclaimed in terror, and seemed like she might faint. She steadied herself by grabbing on to the two urchins, who had similarly transformed from their childish forms and rags back into themselves; beautiful women, dressed in elegant gowns.  
The enchantress decreed, holding up a graceful, thin white hand, her voice soft as a summer rain yet booming like thunder, “You shall remain thus, unless you can learn to love someone, and for them to love you in return. For there was not only no love whatsoever in your heart, for your fellows, your servants, your land, or in any way to the world around you, but no quarter whatsoever, and now the cruelty within reflects the visage without. Weep and regret in vain! Here in your lonely keep you shall dwell, for if you venture out, all shall see you and cry out at the hideous beast.”  
“Have pity on me,” the Beast begged, crouching on all fours. “I didn’t know! Please change me back! I’ll do anything! I’ll be good! Please! I can change!”  
The witch pulled a single red rose out of her sleeve and handed it to the Beast. “For seven years, this enchanted rose will bloom. In that time only, do you have the chance to find someone to love, and who will love you in return, and that alone has the power to break the spell. If the seven years should pass, when the last petal falls from the enchanted rose, in the form of a beast you will remain, forever!” The beautiful elven woman laughed, in satisfied justice, and the Beast howled in repentance. Every window in the house flew open, and the rain blew in sideways, creating a mildewy, dusky gloom that would endure. Her work completed, the enchantress vanished, her granddaughters with her, while the Beast continued to howl forlornly in the storm.  
They reappeared beside the cauldron, which was still upended from the crash landing. Fortunately, that meant that all the water in it had flowed out, and no new accumulation of rainwater was there yet. Pushing it upright again, the witch, who was back to her normal form, ordered the princess and the fairy into the cauldron. They too, were back to their usual, ragged forms, and silently did as they were told, their minds full of what they had just seen. Climbing back into the cauldron, they sat down quietly, while the witch rowed with her magic oar, and they were up and away. Aurora wanted to ask her about what had just happened, but Maleficent kept pulling at her whenever she was about to speak, and shaking her head, no!  
The cauldron was knee deep in rainwater before they arrived back at the hut, and they were wet and cold indeed. Upon entering the cottage, the fairy shed her rags and curled up in the sheepskin by the fire, trying to warm herself. The witch shook like a dog, and Aurora received the brunt of that water. Dripping wet, but her deerskin suit quickly repelling much of the moisture, Aurora asked, “How? Why? What is your true form?”  
“Princess,” the witch laughed, “I did not give you permission to speak again. You would have been wise to do as your fairy love has. I doubt you would have lasted a day if you had her restrictions! But since you mean well and know nothing, like the kindly Mrs. Potts, I will answer this much. I can take whatever form I wish, and how much privacy would I get looking like that? I want people running away from me, not towards me, and too much knowledge can make one old too soon. What is it that you truly wish to know?”  
Aurora realized that she really didn’t know what it was exactly that she wished to know. Not sure what she should even say, she sat down next to her fairy love and started thinking. She stared into the fire and knit her brow, sorting out in her mind what had happened. Clearly the castle master was tested and punished for his deeds, but had also been given a way out. The spell she had used was remarkably familiar, Maleficent used similar magic. And what was significant about seven years? She and Maleficent were indentured servants to the witch for seven years. Maybe, Aurora thought, that wasn’t the part that she wanted to know. Perhaps she was more interested in how the witch knew where to go, when, and if she also knew what was going to happen. And most perplexing of all, to her pretty young self, why did the witch choose to go about as an ugly old hag when she could appear to be an extremely beautiful elven enchantress? Why did she want everyone to run away from her? Only then did she realize that the witch had helped herself to Mrs. Potts’ cauldron of delicious stew, and was lying on her bed like always, but enjoying the soup with loud slurping noises, and plenty of cackling. Then Aurora decided that indeed, too much knowledge could make one old too soon, and hanging up her deerskin to dry from the antlers above the fireplace, cuddled up with Maleficent, and felt her sweet kisses along with her chilled, delicate body, while the witch sat on her bed and smoked, after finishing the last of the soup with plenty of loud yummy noises. Aurora certainly hoped that all of that hadn’t been just to steal Mrs. Potts’ beef stew. But she didn’t know what questions to ask, and the fairy wasn’t allowed to speak. So she just lay there quietly, holding her beautiful fairy love while her mind churned on.


	27. Wolfie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While at the Baba Yaga's enchanted spinning wheel of fate, Maleficent reminisces about her past, and some of the people in it.

Chapter 27  
Wolfie

Spring turned to summer, which faded into fall and then into winter again, and another spring. In the dark land of the witch’s dwelling, it was almost always dusk or nearly dawn. Although it could be day, and even in midsummer, when the sun should have shone its brightest, it was always strangely dim, and the twinkling mornings faded into twilight and then back into the constant night. Things were strangely timeless in the witch’s hut, as though nothing ever happened, because it had already occurred so many times before, but that it never would again, and so it was shockingly unexpected whenever anything did. An eternity had passed in an hour, and yet the days spun by, like the weeks, months, and years that seemed to follow. For Aurora, time was measured in fixed and created objects. She was getting quite good at skinning the creatures Baba Yaga brought home in her flying cauldron, and making beautiful fur and leather objects. Their love nest was cozy indeed, now, and there was never a time when she shivered outside, or even felt overwhelmed by the tasks set before her.  
For the fairy, time was measured only in in woolly balls of fluff, spools of thread, notes silently hummed, or in precious moments away from the spinning wheel. She had become good at spinning fate, but she quickly realized that the bottomless bag of fluff was enchanted, and that there were things in it that she was meant to find. Just when she would become bored, or even a little hypnotized by the rhythmic motion of the wheel, jolting, jarring thoughts, dreams, and images would come seemingly from nowhere. It was part of the witch’s magic, bringing feelings and memories, which had been wadded down into physical clumps of thorny, woolly, existential angst. The spinning was actually going quite quickly, as meme turned to notes of physicality in the many lives that she saw spun out. It wasn’t that difficult, once she caught the hang of it. People’s happiness or pain was actually quite predictable, and occurred at precise stages of life. She learned when to pull and when to back off. Sometimes it was wisest to let a clump fall through, even though someone, inspecting it, might declare it to be a flaw. The flare ups of accusatory anguish that were bit-thorns in the spinning, she learned to simply accept and let flow past. She had stayed at home most of her life; other people’s misfortunes were not of her intentional doing. The witch’s spinning wheel stuck and stopped whenever she dismissed all of those accusations against her, but if she simply accepted that someone else had blamed her for everything, and then simply moved on, it went away. All of those accusations, complaints, and unheard laments became a spool of thread. Many times she looked at the varieties of hair, fluff, and woolly lumps, and wondered what manner of magical beasts the witch sheared. There was the occasional phoenix feather or silky puff ball that might have been from a unicorn’s mane or tail, but the vast majority of it was dross, and rough work at that. She didn’t ask the witch, and the Yaga never told her, but there were times when Maleficent was almost certain that the majority of the lives of human men were spun from a combination of sheep’s wool and dog fur. She had heard rumors of a sorceress who transformed men into whatever creature was closest to his true nature. She had a few lions, rabbits, wolves, and cats, but what she had mostly was pigs and asses. Maleficent suspected that there must have been a great number of sheep and dogs added in, too. From her own experience of humankind, she would have suspected a large number of rats and skunks along with those pigs and asses. Whatever it was, the bag was never ending, of that she was certain. The best part of spinning was stopping, for lunch or for dinner, or best of all for the evening, and enjoying whatever Aurora had found in the forest that was good to eat. Sometimes the witch sent her outside to help the princess with other chores.  
She was stunned one endless afternoon to pull out of the bag a long, wavy dark hair, curling gently and becoming lighter at the end. Finding it anomalous, she looked down through the bag, only to discover a mass of it. As her fingers reached down into the depths of the bag, she knew immediately that familiar feeling, that deep dark honey and black color, that soft, magical sensation of feeling the silkiness falling through her fingers. There couldn’t be more than one such beautiful handful of ebony to gold tresses, with the occasional silver strand, this was Wolfie’s unique, sparkling hair, there was no doubt in her mind about that. She pulled it from the bag, and sat there with it on her lap. Instantly, she was back to the darkest time of her life.  
She had just declared herself Queen of the Fairies, and covered their land in darkness. Hatred and revenge had consumed her thoughts, and walking the perimeter of her land, inspecting the Wall of Thorns, had been her daily business. The Wall was impenetrable, or so she had thought, and nothing went in or out without her consent. So she had been stunned to find a pretty, human woman, singing and bathing in the river at the base of her favorite tree. And Great Rowan Tree had been flirting with her! Branches blowing without a wind, and reclining on the exposed roots, she had been singing with the birds and admiring the dancing ashrays, letting the water flow over her. “How did you get in here?” Maleficent had appeared behind her and demanded. The woman startled awkwardly at her approach, and stuttered. “Speak!” the angry fairy ordered her.  
“The river…” she had stammered, pointing at a section of the waterway that wasn’t covered by overhanging thorns. “I swam up the river, and underneath the wall of thorns through the water.”  
The fairy realized that she had in fact left an entry point unguarded. She would have to fix that, after driving off the unwelcome visitor. “You are not wanted here. Leave at once.”  
“But I can’t!” she had pleaded. “I can’t go back out there. I’m hiding. If I go back, they’ll burn me for a witch!”  
That had been completely unexpected, and Maleficent had laughed until she had tears in her eyes. “You? A witch? Have you any powers at all?”  
“No,” the woman answered truthfully. “I don’t, nothing noteworthy, anyway, but that doesn’t stop them! They’re going to burn me at the stake if they find me!”  
“That is not my concern,” the fairy answered. “You are not to be in here, and will leave at once.”  
“Please…”  
“Get out!” she thundered, pulling some darkness down and crackling thunder. She pointed at the wall of thorns, which parted slightly, to permit her to leave as quickly as possible. Frightened, the woman had grabbed up her brown peasant dress and fled. Maleficent had watched her go, and wondered yet again about humans. If they were burning one another, then perhaps there would soon be far less of them. This particular one had been more attractive than they usually were, despite the abundance of horrific scarring all over her body. It hadn’t occurred to her at the time to wonder what those marks were from, she had been more interested in getting rid of her, and then in trying to decide what portion of distant Elven ancestry she must have had, to have her pretty features, quick movements, and one pointed ear. That thought had made Maleficent laugh; some sort of mongrel human with just a little wood elf blood. She continued to laugh, and Diaval perched on a branch beside her, cawing in his critical tone. He didn’t approve, and so she made certain not to turn him into any creature that could speak, unless absolutely necessary. For a servant, he certainly was opinionated! He was supposed to take orders, not pass judgments upon her behavior.  
Evil-smelling smoke regularly arose from the human habitations, so that in and of itself was nothing new. However, in her wanderings through the countryside, she was finding bizarre, inexplicable greasy pyres that had been the center of large celebrations. She wondered what new manner of party the humans were having. When she unexpectedly wandered through the fresh, still smoking ruins of one such strange event, she was stunned to see men hanging with ropes around their necks from a great old oak tree, and the charred remains of a woman chained to a post. There was litter everywhere, as though the entire kingdom had gathered there and left the trash. Several soldiers were grumbling, tasked as they had been to clean it all up. She disappeared silently into the night to ponder what she had seen. That Stephan was putting fear into his people in order to prevent peasants from rising up against him didn’t occur to her. From her perspective then, it was mysterious.  
The strange events continued, with rough-looking peasants and the occasional noble found hanging from the old oak tree. She touched the tree, and worried that it was absorbing horrible, negative human emanations. It would become twisted and blighted if its roots fed from the poisoned ground, which had become greasy with rendered flesh. So she decided to return regularly, and so save the old tree from humanity’s further burning ignorance. It was easiest to visit the tree when on return trips from spying on the ugly little princess. One of the pixies had given her the gift of beauty, but Maleficent couldn’t see it. She just saw an odd little human. In all her wanderings, she still hadn’t ever found a magic barn. Most of them were full of farm animals and equally pungent humans. So much didn’t make sense, that it was easy to disregard it all.  
She overstayed her luck one day, observing the three traitorous pixies and the little girl, and it was necessary to leave immediately before she was seen. Diaval was cawing at her again, and hiding in a thicket, she observed the road. Soldiers passed by, as they often did, but this time they had several prisoners chained together, walking along single file. In a wooden cart, pulled by a single black horse, was a filthy, bedraggled, lone woman, her arms chained behind her. The raven kept nudging her, and Maleficent tried to ignore him. She knew about what he said, even without changing him into a man. So, she had thought, they are about to have one of their bizarre celebrations. Silently, she followed them, remaining unseen. The strange procession stopped at the poisoned old tree, and other soldiers were setting up a great wooden stake, and piling sticks around it. People were starting to gather around, and to her amazement, entire families were arriving in carts, complete with children, dogs, and picnic baskets, and setting up tables and tents. Several men set up an enormous keg of beer and were selling it by the cupful, while strolling minstrels had their hats out for spare coinage. Apparently this was some sort of festival. Her curiosity piqued, she observed the preparations. It was nearly noon when they took the woman out of the cart, where she had been sitting motionless. Two soldiers had to carry her to the stake, where they chained her upright. She was in bad shape, and would have quickly fallen over otherwise. There was a rumble among the crowd, and the three chained men were taken to the tree, and as they were propped up on crates, nooses were fitted around their necks.  
An official-looking man, who was cleaner than the general rabble, and wore a fine-fitting claret jacket and riding boots, stood on a stack of wooden boxes and addressed the crowd. “Selene of the Wild Men and the Wood Elves, you are hereby to be burnt at the stake until dead for your heinous crimes of witchcraft and aiding the enemies of our Good and Great King Stephan. Your wicked servants, brigands of the road, Captain Cully, Common Brigand Johann, and Schmendrick the Scrawny and Unremarkable will die first, to hang by the neck until dead.” A great noise arose from the crowd, both applause and booing. “What are your last words?” he asked the three men.  
“I’m a wizard!” Schmendrick proclaimed. “If I become angry, I will transform all of you into cheese!”  
The crowd laughed uproariously, and the official asked him, “So how is that working for you?”  
“Do not make a magician angry! If I choose, I can…”  
“Shut up, Schmendrick,” one of the other men said, “Unless you’d rather be burned at the stake?”  
“No, no,” the self-proclaimed wizard announced. “I take it all back, I’m really a jester…”  
Of course, they plead their innocence, and the crowd was asked to judge them. To the fairy’s amazement, the crowd seemed quite adamant that the three men should hang. Upon the official’s signal, the crates were kicked over. She watched as the bodies jerked around and many among the crowd yelled and cheered. It seemed an odd sort of celebration to her, and she wondered if humans were fond of death. They certainly seemed enthusiastic, and it definitely explained how they could endure the terrible smells. When the bodies were still, and the cheering had faded away, the official signaled the main event.  
“Witch! Whore of brigands and summoner of demons! Enemy of our Good King Stephan and the people and curser of cattle! You are condemned to burn until dead. Do you have any last words?”  
“Nothing noteworthy, anyway,” the woman answered. It didn’t matter what she said. She had already been forced to confess her guilt, and was in pain from the injuries already inflicted upon her, and now she was only waiting for the end. There was no possibility that they were going to release her. The whole purpose of the conversation was to entertain the crowd.  
The raven cawed, and Maleficent recognized that voice. It was the woman who had found her way past the wall of thorns. So this was what being burnt for a witch was! She watched while the official pronounced doom upon the chained figure, who now looked almost nothing like the pretty woman who had been bathing in the river. She was filthy, her hair matted and encrusted with debris. She was dressed in a rough, nubby gray broadcloth sack, just enough to cover her body to the knees, and left her arms bare. It was a rag that was meant to be burnt.  
“Then so be it,” the official said, and gave the signal for the soldiers to light the pile of wood at her feet. Burning straw was thrown at her, and the dry wood began to crackle and smoke. The woman screamed, and Diaval was pecking Maleficent in a most annoying fashion.  
“Wait,” she told him. “If this means that much to you, I will give her the form of a bird when the smoke becomes heavier.” Another few screams, and a cheer from the crowd, and she signaled for him to fly. As the smoke billowed up around the screaming figure, she vanished, and as the chains fell away one raven nudged and led another, which was desperately struggling for flight, out of the smoke and off into the trees. The crowd was astounded, thinking that the witch had escaped, and that some devil had saved her. They gasped, screamed, and began talking and panicking among themselves. The newly created raven rested up in one of the nearby trees with Diaval, while Maleficent amused herself by making smoke demons appear and threaten the crowd. They began a massive, shrieking stampede, and fled in panic. Amused, but quickly bored, she slipped away unseen, and made her way back to the wall of thorns, and then to her favorite chair to lie around in. Waiting for her were Diaval and the accused witch, still in the form of a raven. “So,” she asked him, “What to do with her?” She changed him into a man, and the lady raven back into a woman. She fell on the ground, and he deftly found his footing, and then helped her up.  
“Thank you,” she said, looking around. Still injured, she sat down on a rock to rest.  
“We couldn’t let them burn you,” he said.  
“Why not?” Maleficent asked him. “What are we to do with her?”  
“She can fly around with me,” he suggested.  
“That sounds like more of a distraction than useful,” Maleficent suspected aloud. Crows were very social creatures, and liked to form large flocks whenever possible, usually ravens were much less so. But Diaval was unceasing in his efforts to invite birds and other creatures to be his friends. Maleficent, however, didn’t want large, noisy groups around, and regularly sent his new friends away. It didn’t matter, he just found more. The spell had turned the woman back into a human, as she saw herself, although she was still injured, and unable to stand without help. Her face was pretty and clean, long hair falling all over her shoulders in dark waves. She was very attractive in the form of a woman, and must have been equally interesting to a male raven in the form of a female one. “No, that won’t do at all,” she decided. “But since my current servant complains so very much about being in the form of a dog or wolf, I think that is what I require.” So saying, she turned the woman into a wolf, and Diaval back into a raven. “Go check upon the little princess,” she told him, “Wolfie and I are going to get acquainted.” Reluctantly, Diaval had cawed and flown away, with several backward glances. He clearly didn’t trust her with her new servant. He had known her better than she had known herself.  
Changing her back into a human after the raven had departed, Maleficent had informed the woman, “You will address me only as Mistress.”  
“Yes, Mistress,” she had said, seeming disoriented. Shape changing suddenly was definitely a new thing for her, and she looked as though she was likely to fall over, even while sitting on the ground.  
“You will do everything I tell you, without question. You will love and obey only me.”  
“Yes, Mistress.”  
“I’m going to call you Wolfie.”  
“Yes, Mistress.”  
Maleficent paused in her memories and looked at the dark hair in her hands. I never even asked her what her real name was, she thought. Diaval must know. Doubtless he did, but she hesitated to ask. He had stopped talking about her years ago, and to reopen that conversation would be to ask for another torrent of recrimination. Perhaps… But no, she thought. The last thing she would want is for Diaval to tell Aurora about her second servant, and the things she had done. No, this should be just between her and the witch, Maleficent thought. Ironic, she thought sadly, that completely helpless Wolfie should have been chained to a post and burned for a witch, when a real one eventually gained possession of her long, glossy hair. And how had that happened, she wondered, but didn’t really want to know. By the time the woman had been close to death, and vomiting blood, Maleficent had not wanted to bother with her, so she had driven her out once again, past the wall of thorns. The last the fairy had seen of her wolf servant had been her lying outside the wall, making those awful, annoying choking noises that resulted in blood, or vomit, or both. She had things to do, couldn’t stand around waiting for dogs to die. She had curses to bring to fruition, pixies to harass, and a king to bring to ruin. So how had the witch acquired her hair? She must have turned back into a human after she died, when all the magic fell away.  
But magic had been all they had, Maleficent thought. It was all she had thought about, in those days. Looking back, she had been evil. Completely and selfishly evil, never sparing a thought or a moment for anything but her own interests. There was no other way to describe herself. Although she had reveled in it then, how she now regretted her actions! She had certainly regretted cursing Aurora, who now loved her so much that she had traded away seven years of her life and given her part of her soul to bring her back from the dead. But Wolfie, she had succeeded in forgetting about. Now, if Aurora should ever discover what she had done, would she still love her? Maleficent doubted it. No excuses, however heartfelt, or lies of omission would restore her to grace in the princess’ eyes. Aurora could love her because she hadn’t seen it; that grasping, cruel, sadistic streak that was satisfied only with pain. Something about the pretty woman with the distant Elven ancestor and the graceful movements had brought it out in her. It wasn’t jealousy, it was something worse. She hadn’t really loved or wanted her, but couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving, either. Nor could she abide the thought of anyone else being with her. But it wasn’t gentle or caring, it was vicious, possessive, and predatory. Any attempts to please, her loyalty and her doglike love and devotion had all just made Maleficent sometimes feel like kicking her. And that dog-crying had been completely intolerable. Sometimes Wolfie had indulged in that sound; that whining and whimpering that made Maleficent whack her with her staff. Even the mournful howling hadn’t been as bad as that crying. To make it stop, she would transform her back into a human. No woman’s tears were as irritating as dog-whining. Maleficent wound the hair around her fingertips and wondered what had been wrong with her, to make her so wantonly cruel and unfeeling. There hadn’t been any kindness or pity for her servants; but Diaval had the sense to fly away and be quiet when she was in the throes of dark thoughts, Wolfie had been unwise enough to stay beside her and make noise. Doglike devotion, she thought. But it wasn’t like they didn’t have fun, too. They had all walked in the woods together, and enjoyed one another’s company. Maleficent had especially enjoyed her companionship when she turned Wolfie back into a human, a beautiful, dark haired woman, and enjoyed those whore-like talents she had apparently been burned as a witch for. Maleficent would lean back in her favorite lounge, and let her servant pleasure her for hours on end, after she would give Diaval a task to be rid of his judging for a while. The spirits had warned her not to engage in pleasures with the raven, whatever form she might make him take; the chances were far too high that she might give birth to a harpy. But there had been no such worries with Wolfie. Her tongue and dexterous fingers were even better than the courtesan at Snow White’s palace. They could play together all night long without any unwanted conceptions. Maleficent had also taught Wolfie what to do with the magic staff. It didn’t have a warm, glowing ball on the end just to emit light, it was also so they could pleasure each other with it… The fairy petted the hair and remembered smoothing it over her thighs, and petting it luxuriously while being delighted with the soft tongue and gentle hands. She could see clearly the woman’s eyes, her pretty lips kissing her all over, but couldn’t recall her name. Why didn’t I ever listen to her? Because, Maleficent knew, she hadn’t cared. At the time, it hadn’t mattered what anyone else thought or felt, and any cruelty was justified if it served her ends. And it had expeditiously served her goals to drive her away when she became ill. Not only was the coughing annoying, but the vomiting and dog-crying made her simply intolerable…  
Maybe, a voice within her that sounded a lot like Princess Aurora said, she wasn’t happy or she missed someone. Did you ever find out where she was from? Maybe she had a family? Maybe those scars came from the torture chamber where she had to confess to being a witch. You remember the things they can think up. Why wouldn’t she be crying, after having escaped from the dungeon only to be thrown out of Fairyland and caught again? Then they tortured her some more, tied her to a post, and set her on fire. The fairy was dumbstruck. She had never thought about that before. Surely Wolfie’s old life was gone by the time she was chained to that post, and when Maleficent had turned her into a bird, she should have flown away from all of that, and thought only of her new fairy mistress…  
“If you ain’t working, you’d best be doing something of value,” the witch said.  
Maleficent just stared at her, holding the hair. You’ve got her hair, the fairy thought. You took her body, what did you do? She’s dead, isn’t she?  
“I will never tell you,” the witch said. “But what you will do is spin that hair into a spool of fine thread. Make it as beautiful as anything ever was. Pour your heart and soul,” she mocked and cackled, “Whatever little of that there may be, or what you can borrow from the princess, into it, and perhaps I will tell you the answers to the questions you have never even thought to ask. Like the names of her children.” The witch regarded her coldly and then threw some straw at the stunned fairy. “So, now we understand each other a little better, aye? Maybe now you won’t think how awful it is that the old witch makes you work. Maybe now you know why your life has the low value it does, and yes! Why is the old witch so much nicer to the princess? Hmmm?” She threw some more straw at the fairy, and said, “Spin that into gold, if you can!”  
So she tried. The hairs were very long, and so they twisted together nicely in a braid-like fashion, but being glossy and slippery, they fell apart. The witch had told her to spin it into a beautiful thing, and thrown straw at her, saying to spin it into gold. How was she to do that without magic? She looked over at the witch, who was lying on her bed, smoking one of her pipes. Aurora was serving up the witch’s dinner, and soon it would be time to set the accursed spinning aside for a while, and have something to eat. Now that she thought about it, she was hungry, tired, and thirsty. She watched Aurora serve the witch, and handed her a big helping of something in her favorite mug; the fairy skull. The old hag cackled happily, and asked what it was.  
“It’s a type of beer I’m making out of roots and pumpkins. We seem to have a lot of pumpkins still stacked up that you brought home in your cauldron. I think it turned out rather good.”  
The witch tasted it and cackled with delight and satisfaction. “Pumpkin ale! I like this! Now what’s for dinner?”  
“Rat soup.”  
“What? With this delicious pumpkin ale we’re eating rat soup?”  
“It is barely spring, and as far as fruits are concerned, still winter, and so there are no berries or nuts, and almost no mushrooms. You’ve already eaten all the eggs and all but one rooster. There’s nothing left but the rats.”  
“What happened to the venison? To the goat? To the mystery meats?”  
“You ate them all,” Aurora explained patiently. “The rats were going after the pumpkins. But there is some pumpkin bread,” she added with a smile. She brought her fairy friend a cup of the ale and a piece of the bread. She already knew that Maleficent did not want to eat rat soup. That was to fill up the witch. She noticed the human hair in the fairy’s hands. “That’s pretty,” she commented, “And so long! I wonder where it came from?”  
“From a witch,” the hag cackled. “A very pretty witch who had a fondness for fairies. I’m sure you can appreciate that.”  
Aurora smiled, she certainly could! “I know this sounds silly, but I always wished that I had long, dark hair like that, raven-colored! I wanted to braid strands of gold and silver into it and make it sparkle so that it would look blue-black.”  
“Do you still?” the witch asked.  
“Oh, no,” Aurora laughed. “After I saw a portrait of my mother, and her pretty blond hair, I was happy with what I had. My father once told me that I looked so like my mother, and that thought has always filled me with joy.”  
“Indeed,” the witch cackled, and watched as Aurora admired the hair and the fairy drank her pumpkin ale. At her laughter, strange thoughts of alchemy entered their heads, and they began to play with the spinning wheel. It was work for the fairy when Aurora wasn’t there, but it could be fun when she was. Realizing that everything in the bag had to be spun into thread, Aurora started playing with the long strands of human hair. Then she started digging around in the bag.  
“If you put it together with sheep’s wool,” she thought aloud, “It will dull and become ordinary. Now this,” she exclaimed happily, pulling a crushed, bent peacock feather out of the bag, “Use this and it becomes fantastic!” She started braiding in tiny, scintillating feathers, and the result was a shimmering, slippery thread. “It’s delicate,” she acknowledged, “But it certainly is pretty! Look!” she announced, holding it up.  
Maleficent smiled, and the witch agreed, “Yes, yes, perky princess, that is a lovely thread indeed. But you’ve got chores of your own to go do. Let that lazy fairy do her own work, and you go get me some more of that pumpkin ale!” Then she belched loudly, and Aurora laughed. Maleficent shook her head and wondered what Snow White would have thought of all this; rat soup, pumpkin ale, belching witches, and spinning human hair into fate.


	28. Rumpelstiltskin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora saves a dwarf repeatedly, only to discover that gratitude turns to vengeance in an evil heart.

Chapter 28  
Rumpelstiltskin

Far away in the White City, Snow White was waving a tearful goodbye to her beloved husband and sons as they gallantly leapt upon their noble, white steeds. They were leaving, to go to the aid of another king in the faraway lands, whose people were being attacked by hordes of orcs. Even her little boy Phillip was preparing to leave. The wizard was going too, and Phillip seemed to follow him everywhere he went. Snow White cried, and sang songs of lamentation that moved everyone to tears.  
“We shouldn’t be gone too long,” King John said reassuringly. “We’re only battling orcs, and we’re meeting up with the Elven archers halfway. This shouldn’t take but a few weeks at most.” After all, he was a great hero, a famous paladin with a magic sword and a divine, healer’s touch, and he could cut down swathes of orc hordes as easily as if he were buttering bread. He would also have a full complement of Elven warriors to back him up, as well as a wizard. The speedy liberation of the desperate king’s lands was all but assured. Snow White waved at the departing men, and while she sang, she gave away flowers to the wives and mothers who cried because their husbands and sons were going away to war.  
When the dust had settled and the army could no longer be seen in the distance, Snow White went down to the dungeons, to free her dear friends from their long imprisonment. They were ecstatic at being released, but Snow White cautioned them not to ever be seen in the city or the surrounding areas, because once King John returned and discovered that they were gone, he would chop off their heads if he ever found them. She would tell him that the dwarves had escaped unseen, whilst everyone was busy preparing the army for battle. Thanking Snow White profusely, the Six Dwarves fled down the dark secret ways under the city to their forges, and then to the Iron Mountains, where dwelt their people. Songs of vengeance were sung that night at the Hall of the Mountain King, after the story of the magical belt was told, and about the evil, wicked fairy Maleficent, who had put Snow White under a spell, and ensorcelled King John into being her lover, so that now he was their enemy as well. Many plots and plans for revenge and regaining the treasure were discussed, both great and small.  
In the deep woods where it was evergreen and forever dark, it seemed that the witch had developed an insatiable craving for pumpkin ale. Aurora turned all of their pumpkins into ale, which the old hag quickly consumed, and then she was off every day in her flying cauldron, stealing other people’s pumpkins so that her servant could make more of the delicious ale. She also brought home other creatures for Aurora to cook up, as she had grown very tired of rat soup. Aurora didn’t mind turning the pumpkins into ale, which she and the fairy also liked to drink, but the witch had some odd notions of delicious, and seemed to really enjoy the sorts of meals that the Seven Dwarves would have found tasty. One night she insisted that the girl cook up an entire goat, which she crunched down with fearless abandon. From that night on, goat and pony roasts were the witch’s delight, along with pumpkin ale. The witch also showed Aurora how to make waybread, a bland, chewy hard tack that lasted forever. This, she was dismayed to discover, was what she and the fairy would get to eat if Aurora didn’t forage in the woods, and they weren’t interested in dirt-covered slugs for breakfast or pony roasts for dinner.  
All that cooking along with her other chores kept Aurora very busy, and gave the fairy plenty of time alone in the cottage at the spinning wheel. One day Aurora was gathering firewood in the forest when she saw a dwarf, a grotesque little man with his long, red beard stuck in the split of a tree, and he was trying to free himself. “Do you need any help?” she offered.  
“Isn’t that obvious?” the dwarf snapped at her. “Take the other end and pull!”  
“All right,” agreed the princess, who looked to the dwarf more like a female of the Wild Men of the North, “I will try to pull it out and untangle it.” So she did, but without success. So she pulled the little knife from her pocket and cut off the end of the beard.  
Far from being grateful, the little man was enraged. “Stupid barbarian woman!” he spat, “To cut off a piece of my beautiful beard!”  
“Well, that’s a fine way to say thank you,” Aurora commented, as she watched the dwarf pick up some firewood and what appeared to be a sack of gold. Pleased to be rid of him, she was about to leave, when she spied a few gold coins lying on the ground. “That’s a better way to say thanks,” she laughed to herself, and put them into her tool bag.  
Several days later, when the witch had sent her to the river to do some fishing, she saw the same dwarf on the riverbank. “Go away,” he ordered her, “This is my river! And these are my fish! So go away!”  
“No, it is not,” the princess answered.  
“What do you know about anything, you rude human barbarian? Get thee gone!”  
“I am not a barbarian! I am the Princess Aurora, and the Baba Yaga sent me here to do some fishing, which I intend to accomplish, so kindly be quiet and stop scaring away the fish!”  
The dwarf growled angrily, and so Aurora went farther upstream, to a very nice little spot, quiet and cool, with pretty branches overhanging it, that she was fairly certain the fish might like. Indeed they did, and quickly her basket was full of fresh trout. Done fishing for the day, she took a quick swim, and then feeling very cold but nice and clean, put her clothes back on and collected up a few mushrooms. On her way back down the river and to the cottage, she saw the dwarf again, this time with his beard caught in his fishing line. He was hopping around, this way and that, and she was tempted to ignore him, but the line had hooked a large fish, which was pulling the dwarf in. “Do you need help?” she once again asked.  
“Can’t you see that my beard is caught in my fishing line and the fish is pulling me in?”  
Aurora tried to untangle the line and the beard, but there was no time for it. So once again, she pulled out her sharp little knife, and cut the beard just above where the line was tangled up. The dwarf jumped up and down and howled in rage, “It was not enough that you cut a chunk of my beautiful, wonderful beard before, but now you have carelessly chopped off the best part of it!” So saying, he kicked his empty fish-basket into the water, and picking up his fishing pole and what she thought might be a bag of gems, he stomped off into the woods, calling her a filthy, stupid thief, to have ruined his most excellent beard! Looking down, she saw some glittering, beautiful precious stones. So she picked them up and put them in her pocket. They were so small that she thought they would get lost in the tool bag.  
That night she showed her beautiful fairy friend the coins and gems, and they admired them by the firelight, and Aurora told her the story of the ungrateful dwarf. Stuck indoors day after day at the spinning wheel with only her memories for companionship, the fairy delighted in any interesting stories that might have happened to the princess that day. Forgetting all about the ill-tempered dwarf, they ate fish and drank pumpkin ale until the witch went to sleep, snoring loudly, whereupon they made love until they both fell asleep in each other’s arms.  
Aurora thought no more of the angry, wicked dwarf for several weeks, until she was once again sent to the river to fish by the witch, who said she wanted a big, grilled trout supper. This should take most of the day, Aurora thought, as she wandered up the riverbank. She was quite surprised to see a mother bear in the river, trying to drown a dwarf whose beard was stuck on a branch while her baby bear sat there in the water and laughed. Aurora was tempted to pass by and let the bear alone, when the dwarf howled pitifully for help.  
So she waded in, and begged the bear, “Please, Mother Bear, let the dwarf go.”  
“What for?” Mother Bear growled back angrily. Although she wasn’t using spoken words, Aurora found that she could easily understand the bear’s meaning and intent.  
“As a favor to Snow White,” Aurora thought quickly, making something up, while the dwarf begged for help. “She is fond of dwarves, and this may be one of her friends. And since Snow White’s sister is my fairy love, it would be terribly awkward to someday tell her that I didn’t even bother to stop and save one of her friends.” This dwarf didn’t look like one of Snow White’s dwarves, and although she would have happily let Mother Bear kill one of them because of what they had done to the fairy, the bear didn’t know any of that.  
Mother Bear growled, and then said, “So be it. But I’d rather kill and eat him!” With a final parting blow at the dwarf’s head, Mother Bear ambled off and her cub followed her. “You’ll regret helping Rumpelstiltskin,” Mother Bear called back.  
“Thank you, Mother Bear,” Aurora said. She looked down at the dwarf, whose head was under the water, where Mother Bear had knocked him out, his beard still caught on the branch. Not wasting time, Aurora cut a large section of the beard off and dragged him out of the river. Holding him by his feet and balancing him on his big, round head, she turned him upside down so that all the water in his lungs would come out. It did, and so did a tremendous amount of treasures. Gold coins, jewelry, gems and more came spilling out of the dwarf’s pockets, stockings, hat, and shoes.  
The dwarf regained consciousness and demanded, “Put me down! Put me down!” Aurora did so, and seeing all of his treasures scattered along the riverbank, he shouted, “Thief! Thief! You have robbed me!”  
The princess was astounded. “I saved you from a bear and from drowning!”  
“Thief! Thief!” the dwarf shouted again, now having a look at his beard, which was much shorter on one side. “You twice cut my beard and stole three gold coins and seven gems from me before, you evil wretch! And now you have cut away the finest part of my beautiful, beautiful, beard!” the dwarf howled. “Wicked, wicked, stupid, filthy barbarian woman! I’ll get my revenge upon you for this!”  
“What?” Aurora exclaimed. “Oh, Mother Bear was right! I do regret saving you! I won’t save you again, you ungrateful wretch, Rumpelstiltskin!” She stomped off, going back to her favorite fishing spot, where she hoped the beauty and serenity of the day would erase all thoughts of the bad-tempered dwarf. Indeed, after eating some tasty mushrooms for lunch, she once again bathed in the tranquil pool by the riverside, and quite forgot about the morning’s events. After enjoying the riverside for a while longer, she packed up her basket of fish and started back for the witch’s hut. This time, she saw something glittering in the river, and upon wading out and looking, found some pieces of jewelry left behind from Mother Bear’s beating of the dwarf. She picked them up, and thought to herself, it’s a pity they behave so horribly, they make such wondrous things. That night while they ate their grilled trout, Aurora showed Maleficent the pretty things she had found in the river, and how she had convinced the bear to spare the dwarf by claiming it was a favor to Snow White. That certainly amused the bored fairy, who noted that Aurora was learning to speak with animals. Then they forgot about the dwarf, but the dwarf didn’t forget about them. He decided to find the Yaga’s hut, and retrieve his stolen treasures, and then some.  
Maleficent had taken Aurora’s suggestion and started carefully weaving the strands of peacock feather into the long, dark hairs. The feathers had tiny hairs of their own, however, and it took a long time to make a thread that was strong enough to hold together. It was also slow going because of the memories that the work evoked. Occasionally she spent more time crying than working, and became intimately familiar with the new emotions of guilt and regret. Thoughts and ideas arose that were quite new for her. She recognized their origin because they usually had Aurora’s voice, so they must be coming from the soul-piece that the sweet princess had given her. The witch thought that she was just lazy, however, and periodically gave her some whacks about the head and shoulders with her staff when the princess wasn’t looking. “Work faster, you selfish slowcoach!” the witch snapped. “You’ll never finish sixteen years of work in the remaining four if you don’t work faster!” But it was difficult to set the dark hair and peacock feather aside to work on the unending mountain of sheep’s wool and dog fur. Even though it upset her, the long black and brown honey-colored locks were more important than everything else in that bag. She was crying and thinking about Wolfie’s many scars, and what they had probably been from, when she heard a voice beside her.  
“Why are you crying, fairy lady?”  
Maleficent startled and looked up to see an ugly little dwarf smiling at her. He was a strange little manikin indeed, with a turned up nose, beady little eyes, long reddish beard, and a barrel shaped body with strange, oddly formed arms and legs encased in some sort of mismatched stockings, and funny, trowel-like shoes. He was wearing a big, red leather jerkin, tied around the waist with an embroidered green and gold belt, from which hung an axe. He was grinning at her in a wicked way, as if he knew intimate secrets about her. She wasn’t fond of dwarves, and glared back at him.  
“Can’t finish your work?” he grinned. So, the witch wasn’t here, and the barbarian woman wasn’t either, but Snow White’s sister was. Even better, he thought, and an exquisite way to regain his treasures and exact some revenge on the Wild Woman for chopping off his beard entered his head. “What would you give me if I spin some of it for you?”  
A slap if you come any closer, she eyed him suspiciously.  
“Now, now, there’s no need to be haughty and suspicious!” the dwarf laughed. “I’m a friend of Snow White’s, and I’m here to help! Now just watch this!” He took some of the wool, and some straw, and the spinning wheel flew under his hands, creating a beautiful, creamy-golden colored thread that shimmered slightly. “Touch it,” he said, putting in it her hands. It was delightfully warm, soft and silky, and as she felt it, all the dull memories within had been transformed into bucolic scenes of pastoral beauty. He laughed again. “You like that, don’t you? See the master at work! Now, what will you give me if I spin an entire spool of this for you?”  
Maleficent looked around and threw up her hands. What would anyone want in the witch’s horrid little hut? Bones, toads, and foul smelling things that grew under the witch’s bed?  
The dwarf laughed, “No, fairy lady, I don’t want to steal any of the witch’s stinky treasures. Just one little kiss from you, is all I ask, and that you don’t tell the witch I was ever here.”  
She hadn’t planned on wasting any paper and telling the witch that an ugly little dwarf came by, and especially if the dwarf was doing some of the unending work that she had been assigned. But kissing a dwarf! She wrinkled up her nose in disgust, and the dwarf tried to pick up the dark hair that was on her lap. She slapped his hands away; that was hers, and those weren’t memories she wanted the dwarf to have access to. Whatever strange magic this wicked little dwarf had, she didn’t want him touching anything that was important to her. She shook her head, no.  
“Two spools, then,” he grinned, “Just for a little peck on the cheek.” Then he paused, and asked, “Can’t you speak?” He waited, and since she didn’t answer, but just stared at him, he realized that the answer was most certainly no. More evil thoughts began to perk through his head, and he said, “Just one little peck on the cheek, lovely fairy lady.”  
She wavered, not trusting the dwarf at all, but as he leaned forward and pointed with a long, clawed finger at the far side of his face, she pushed out her lips and brushed the dwarf’s cheek. He giggled in wild delight, his long pointy ears turning red and wiggling. She drew back in disgust, and avoided looking at that barrel-like body, for fear something else might be turning red and wiggling. “Oh, he he he!” he laughed, and with a whoop of delight, grabbed up a bunch of wool and another handful of straw, quickly turning it into more of the super-soft, golden thread. She stared at the spinning wheel, trying to figure out how the nasty little dwarf was accomplishing this magic, but she soon became distracted. It was too easy to let her mind drift off, and think about how nice it would be to finally go home. Forever the dark dreams of the Underworld in the witch’s domain, she tried to remember the bright daylight of the living, and she missed walking freely in sweet fields of flowers, and enjoying the waterfalls where the grigs and pixies lived. Pretty ponds and streams where the dancing ashrays skated over the surface, and every other delight she hadn’t thought about whilst she had dwelt there but now seemed so precious. How delightful it would be to enjoy a fresh, light summer breeze, scented with fragrant blossoms and morning dew, and forget all about the sour smelling wind that blew in through the hut’s windows. Someday, if they ever went home again, she would curl up with her true love at night in a nest built low to the ground, since Aurora couldn’t fly, and she couldn’t either, with her wings all tattered and broken. Such beautiful images filled her mind, and so when the little man was done spinning, and the fantasies had faded, there were two spools of the cream-colored thread that sparkled slightly and felt so very, very soft. Touching them evoked memories of all the beauty in Fairyland. “I’ll be back to see you, tomorrow!” the ugly little dwarf exclaimed, and singing about how lucky he was he hopped on out the door.  
She sat there with the two spools, and clutched the dark hair to her. It was early evening, and the cottage was getting dusky and dim, and both Aurora and the witch would return soon. And they did, very quickly thereafter. Aurora was carrying a big wicker basket of something with a long tail hanging out over the edge and trailing the floor, and six very strangely shaped, hooved feet all askew, and the witch was ordering her to cook it up. “Cook it slow,” the witch said. “I don’t find these very often, and I want the meat dripping off the bones! Good eating tonight!”  
“Yes, that’s fine,” Aurora responded.  
“Now,” the witch laughed gleefully, rubbing her hands together. “Where’s that pumpkin ale?”  
Aurora fetched the cups, and poured some of the ale into the witch’s special mug that stood up by itself, and two other ordinary wooden cups, one for herself and one for the fairy. As she handed Maleficent the cup, she noticed the two spools of silky, golden thread. “Oh,” she exclaimed, “Those are nice!” She picked one up and ran her fingers across it, “So soft and smooth!”  
“Eh?” the witch said, overhearing the princess. She hauled herself up off her bed and over to the spinning wheel. “What’s nice, soft, and smooth?” She picked up the other spool and demanded of the fairy, “Did you do this yourself?”  
The fairy hesitated, but then nodded yes.  
“Were you using magic?” the witch accused.  
The fairy shook her head, no!  
The witch clearly didn’t believe her and eyed her suspiciously. Then she asked, “Was anyone here today? Don’t lie! You tell me the truth, you wicked fairy, or I’ll leave you to your fate!”  
She almost confessed. She almost took up the scroll and the ink, to tell what had happened that day, but she didn’t. The witch had that angry glow in her eyes, like she was looking forward to whacking a lying fairy on the head with her staff.  
“Very well,” the witch growled angrily, her eyes glowing red. “Three spools tomorrow.”  
Maleficent sighed, and took a sip of her pumpkin ale. She was glad of the darkness, for it meant that after dinner she didn’t have to do any more spinning, she could just lie down in the fur nest, cuddle up and make love with her dear Aurora, and go to sleep. After feeding the witch her roast beast, Aurora left the broth to simmer, telling the witch that there would be a tasty supper the next evening, and thus relieving herself of the task of cleaning it out. She had become quite good at managing the witch’s chores.  
The next morning set out the same as the last, and as soon Maleficent was alone, the dwarf appeared again, popping up and entering through the window. “What will you give me if I spin for you?” he asked.  
She looked at the lecherous little creature and held up three spools. Then she held up one finger. Three spools for one kiss.  
“Then it had better be a good kiss,” the dwarf said, his eyes lighting up and his ears and fingers wiggling, “On the lips! Better yet, I kiss you.”  
She raised an eyebrow, wondering what chicanery this nasty creature had in mind, but was willing to trade away a simple kiss for three of the spools being filled with gold thread. So the little man started spinning, and she worked on her dark hair and feather. When the little man tried to touch them, she slapped his hands away. While they worked, he kept gazing over at her in greedy desire, looking at her pretty, rose-red lips, and then down her front, to admire her waist and hips, and his ears would turn red and wiggle. She would glare back at him. “You know,” he grinned, licking his lips at her, “Once you’ve enjoyed the tremendous talents of a dwarf, you never go back. You’ll never want some skinny human girl’s weak kisses or scrawny elf boy’s spindly love after you’ve had heft, strength, and diameter! By comparison, we have enormous…” She gave him an utterly disgusted expression, and didn’t want to hear any more about it. That didn’t stop him from talking, however, and he gleefully informed her that Snow White was a connoisseur of dwarven carnal delights. She was quite a legend amongst his people! Perhaps her sister, the naughty fairy with horns on her head, might also be looking to experience some similar special love and attention? He was willing to be all hers… Maleficent dropped what she was working on and put her hands over her ears, to not hear any more of it. The lusty manikin laughed at her, his nose and ears wiggling while he worked. By late afternoon, three full spools of exquisitely soft, lush golden thread were waiting for the witch’s approval. The little man was almost bursting with pride, delight and anticipation. “Now, for my kiss,” he said. More than ready for the rude, horrid little dwarf to go away, she leaned forward, thinking to give him a quick kiss on the lips, when he grabbed her horns with both hands, and landed his wet, drool-covered lips straight on hers. She shoved him back, but not before he had slipped his hot, slimy tongue into her mouth. She kicked and slapped him repeatedly, sorely wishing she had her old strength once more, until he finally let go. He jumped back, hooting in delight, undaunted by the vicious kicks, his ears, nose, fingers, and more all turning red and wiggling. She wiped her lips, but the sensation of having a slug in her mouth didn’t go away. The dwarf began to dance around the room and sing, “Fairy lady, with lips so sweet, merry met, and merry meet! Lucky, lucky, lucky me! I’m a lucky, lucky little man! Tomorrow I’ll be back again!” Hooting and tooting, he danced around and out the door. She shook her head in disgusted amazement, and kept wiping her tongue with the back of her hand, trying to get the awful, lingering sensation of the dwarf’s slimy tongue to go away. She tried water, she tried wiping her mouth out with cloth, she even tried some of the broth from the cauldron, but nothing made the horrid sensation go away. She could still taste the nasty little dwarf’s tongue in her mouth when Aurora came walking in through the door, carrying some onions and a jug of pumpkin ale. Without waiting for the witch, Maleficent poured herself a cup, and hoped that the fizzy, orange goodness would make the awful, residual slug slime of the dwarf’s kiss go away. When that didn’t work, she tried rubbing a slice of onion on her tongue.  
“What are you doing?” Aurora asked, quite bewildered. “Did you eat something bad?”  
The fairy nodded; that was one way to put it. The onion cut the slime, and so she ate another slice while Aurora put the rest of the onions in the soup. The witch glared at the fairy when she walked in the door, and flopped down on her bed, demanding her dinner. “Craving onions, are you?” the witch growled at her. Then the old witch asked Aurora, “What’s for dinner?”  
Aurora sighed, “Rat soup.”  
“What? Again?”  
“You didn’t bring anything! You ate the entire roast beast last night and didn’t save anything for the pot! There is however, an unending supply of rats, and the broth is at least flavored with the drippings of roast beast.”  
“Aaaahhh,” the witch groaned, thinking about the disappointment of rat soup after the delicious, savory roast beast she had devoured the night before. “Though I think I know what I’m having tomorrow night! Throw all those onions in there and make a mighty broth. Keep the fire going good and hot tomorrow, too,” she said, looking at the fairy. “You can spare a few minutes from spinning to keep that fire burning strong.”  
Maleficent nodded and drank some more pumpkin ale, and Aurora shared the bread with her, while the witch, grumpy about leftover rat soup, decided to fly off in her cauldron in search of a tasty treat. The fairy lay down on their fur nest, and Aurora sat down beside her. “I saved us something,” she said, reaching into her cloak pocket, and pulling out two small, wizened yellow fruits. “Dried apples,” she laughed. “Do you know where they came from?” The fairy sat up, and took one, shaking her head, no. “Remember when we were walking along the gardens and I tried to get you to eat an apple, but Snow White and the Seven Dwarves were coming the other way and so you ran off?” The fairy nodded curiously. “These are the same ones,” Aurora laughed. “I put them in my pocket to chase you, and I’ve had them in my cloak since we got here, and then I decided to dry them out for a time when there was nothing to eat. I just felt like tonight was the night.” She leaned forward and kissed her fairy love, who returned her ardor. Then Aurora stopped. “You taste like an onion!” Maleficent laughed silently and decided that she was certainly not going to kiss any more dwarves on the lips. However did Snow White stand it? They ate their dried apples, a bit of pumpkin bread, and then after stoking up the fire, held each other in the darkness until they fell asleep.  
All too soon, they felt the witch’s staff whacking them awake. “Get up! Get to work!” Slowly, they emerged from the cozy nest on the floor. Arising in the morning was the most difficult part of the day, and Aurora’s first task was usually to roll a bunch of slugs around in dirt, skewer them on a stick, and present them to the witch for breakfast. This morning, the task repelled her more than usual. She had almost gotten used to it, but not quite. As she presented the gruesome delight to the witch, who slurped it down like always, the witch began barking orders at them. “You,” she said, pointing to Aurora, “Go down to the river and catch us some trout. Don’t come back until you’ve got at least six. If you can find any mushrooms, bring those too. You,” she yelled at the fairy, “Get to work, and keep that damn pot boiling! I want to see at least four spools done by the time I get home!”  
Aurora kissed her fairy friend goodbye, and Maleficent squeezed her and kissed her back.  
“Quit that!” the witch shouted. “You’ve got all night for that! Daytime’s for working! Now get to it!”  
Sighing, Aurora left, and went down to the river to do some fishing. Stoking up the fire and keeping the pot boiling, Maleficent sat down again at the spinning wheel. She started working, and was not at all surprised when the greedy little man came hopping on in, this time looking dressed up. He wore a green beanie on his head, finely embroidered straight shoes, and a new red jerkin with black stitchery around the bottom. His beard was also combed and had little jewels stuck in it. There was also a big gold ring hanging temptingly off of one pointed ear.  
“Good morning, fairy lady,” he grinned, ears wiggling. She looked over at him, and shaking her head, pointed back at the door. “Oh, you don’t mean that,” he chuckled. “I’m here to help you spin all this into soft threads, for the pleasure of your company, and a just a sweet little kiss.” She put down her spinning and once again pointed to the door. “But, dear fairy lady,” he said, “I thought about you and how beautiful you are, all night long! You’re much lovelier than Snow White!” He was looking at her in great anticipation, ears and fingers wiggling. “And I’ll tell you something,” he confided, “All dwarves secretly have a thing for elf girls!”  
Who have you been talking to? Maleficent glared at him and wondered. How would this fellow know about Snow White’s secret? Unless it was only a secret for Snow White, she thought. Maybe it was the most popular tale the dwarves had. She shook her head and pointed at the door, indicating that he was to use it. Oh, no, she thought, I am not Snow White, and you’re not going to get any of what you’re after.  
Then the dwarf got down on his knees and said, “But, beautiful fairy lady, just let me enjoy the pleasure of your company! I’ll spin for you even without the promise of payment.” She looked askance at him, and he continued, “Did that terrible old witch say something about me? Don’t believe anything she says! You do know that she eats people, don’t you? Why are you sitting there, just waiting to be eaten? I’m here to help you!” She looked at him suspiciously as he once again dove into the bottomless bag of wool and fur, and started spinning. “You don’t want her to eat you, do you? No one would want that,” he said. “Did she tell you what she has planned? I heard last night upon a high hill round the corner of the wood, from the foxes and hares that she has quite a taste for fairies, even paying in gold and magic items for freshly dead ones. Look over there upon the mantel; do you see that fairy skull she uses as a cup? What more proof could you need? That should give you great pause for thought, fairy lady! Or did she make you some devil’s bargain, which she means to break at the end? What was it? Did you give your voice to her in return for some promised payment? Or must you remain silent until this bag of magic is all spun out? Is there a time period? If you do not complete the task before the allotted time is up, does the witch get to eat you then? Have no doubt in your mind, my beautiful fairy lady, that she has every intention of feasting upon you! Why would you reject any help you could get in staving off that cruel fate? I mean no wrong to you, I only wish to help you for the simple pleasure of your company and your kisses. Where is the harm in that?” He continued to spin the wool into more of the silky, delectably soft threads, while he talked.  
Even if she had her voice, she couldn’t have argued the witch’s intent. The Yaga had been quite plain about what her fate would be if she spoke, or even uttered a wordlike noise. The penalty for any magic use was for the witch to eat a part of her. That had been in no way unclear. But what about the spinning? The hag had sat her down and told her to get started, ordering her to re-spin sixteen years of fate. She had four more years of the hag to endure. Yet, how much was undone, and all those dog-fur sheeple’s lives bored her. They came upon their misfortunes from a variety of sources. Stephan was a good example. He didn’t have to send his daughter away to live with the pixies, he could have just sent her to the seaside for her sixteenth birthday. He didn’t have to impoverish himself by burning all the spinning wheels and building all those ironworks, even if Adrastia had lured him into it. People chose their own misfortunes, she reasoned. Even being cursed… well, she admitted, that was a bit different, but all those people weren’t cursed directly, they were simpletons who did it to themselves. Let the nasty little dwarf spin the fates of the sheeple, while she concentrated upon just those few lives that meant something to her.  
So she did, and the spinning wheel whirred round and round while the dwarf sang. She noticed that some of the threads were silver, and a few more were gold, where the clever dwarf wove in the straw. He was working far faster and doing a much better job that she would have, she thought. He sang a little song while he worked, “Round the wheel, round the wheel, lo and behold, straw goes through and turns into gold!” She continued to work on the dark hair and the lovely feather, which caught the dwarf’s eye. But whenever he reached for it, she pulled it away and slapped his hands. As the day wore on, she became sleepy from the close work and the singing, and would have nodded off, except that she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to keep the fire going and the pot boiling. So she jumped up and stoked the fire, much to the dwarf’s consternation.  
“There’s no need to leap up like that, fairy lady,” he said, staring at her while she bent over to put logs on the fire. “Sit down and rest, and I will keep the fire going.”  
She looked at him doubtfully as she sat back down and resumed her task, and tried not to look at his lecherous grin and red, wiggling ears while they worked. He was horrid, she thought, and Snow White’s dwarves had been dreadful, as well. Why had she kept them around? So she quietly worked, and despite the dwarf’s insistence, she did keep getting up and putting wood on the fire.  
“How about a little kiss?” the dwarf asked her as she sat back down. She eyed him suspiciously and pointed back at the spinning wheel. He had work to do, she implied. So he spun for another hour, and then turned back to her, “How about a little kiss, my fairy lady?”  
She shook her head no, and went back to her work.  
“Don’t you want to kiss me on the lips?” he asked.  
No! She shook her head emphatically. Not after that dirty kiss the day before!  
He chuckled, “See how much I’ve gotten done, and how quickly? I dreamt all night of you and your charms! You don’t have to kiss me on the lips, just let me kiss your nether lips.”  
She gasped and went to slap him. He dodged her, and laughed. “Why don’t you think about it? You don’t have to do anything. No spinning, no kissing, nothing. Just let me kiss you under your dress there, and I’ll do all the work.” She shook her head, no.  
He went back to spinning, and began to sing again, his melodic chant about spinning straw into gold. But this time, she knew what he was trying to do, lull her to sleep. So she kept jumping up to put wood on the fire, and attend to other make-work that kept her away from the lecherous little dwarf. Noon passed into midafternoon, and the dwarf was becoming angry. “Give me a kiss,” he demanded. Still, she shook her head, no. “You owe me!” he threatened, ominously. She laughed, a silent mirth of disbelief, and pointed at the door. If he was dissatisfied, he could leave immediately. But he was no fool, and realized that intimidation wouldn’t work on her, but that she might still be vulnerable to flattery and lulling. “Forgive me, fairy lady,” he said, seeming to regain his manners. “It is my honor to serve you.” So saying, he went back to work, and spun faster and better than before. Taking handfuls of straw along with the sheep’s wool from the bag, he sang his song and handed her bits of golden thread to weave into her work. The spinning wheel whirred on in a rhythmic motion with the dwarf’s skilled hands, and he kept time with his song and tapped his feet. Unlike what the other dwarves had said about Snow White, Rose Red was unmoved by basic aid, flattery and fun. She should have swooned and fallen for him when he offered to save her from the Old Wild Hag, but she hadn’t. He kept working, and then, come late midafternoon, he said, “I will return again every day, and spin all day long without asking for anything, if you let me kiss your nether lips now.”  
She looked down at the nasty, ugly dwarf and wavered. That was a lot of work, and she was tired. What would it hurt, if he couldn’t touch her face with his slug-slimy tongue? Let him have a taste of her, and then he would work for free. She eyed him suspiciously, and he assured her that he only wished to pleasure her, and to taste her. His fingers and ears were turning red and wiggling with delight as she leaned back on the hard wooden stool, and pulled her ragged dress up. The dwarf was ecstatic with delight, and she felt the dwarf’s lips and tongue on her. He was even more grotesque intimately, with his greedy slurping noises and nasty, red ears wiggling wildly. She closed her eyes, to not see it. There was no love, no mixing of spirits, she was just letting him taste her. Because fairies were of the element of air, and her desires and affections were light and gentle, originating in the heart and mind to lastly find expression physically, she was completely unaware of the raw, earthy power of dwarven sex magic. It was a total reversal of the way she expressed herself; the physical manifested itself first, in a profoundly confusing way. No one had ever told her, and so she was as innocent of how that tongue worked its lusty spell as Clecie had been of how the dwarves had broken the mountainside beneath her and sent her plummeting to her death, or poor Snow White who hadn’t ever had a clue about anything at all.  
The dwarf however, was quite intent upon what he was doing, calling upon those ancient life forces which were old as the stones in the ground. The basest urges, the animal needs of the body, were all he knew, and what he drew up into her. When he heard her breathe heavily, he knew that she would soon be as in heat as any forest creature that felt the warm earth in spring and ventured forth from her den to find a mate, any mate, no matter how ugly or unsuitable, as long as he satisfied that primal need. Unprepared, she was overwhelmed by the sudden rutting urge, that was quite unlike anything she had experienced before, and so she didn’t even try to stop the nasty dwarf as his fingers and tongue pleasured her. She did however, think of her true love, and how she was betraying her heart and mind with that lusty heat the dwarf was creating and satisfying between her legs. He had his kiss, she thought; it was time to stop. Inhaling sharply, she opened her eyes, and saw the horrid dwarf grinning there before her, even more grotesque because his entire body was bright red and completely naked, fingers and ears wiggling wildly, long beard partially covering his huge belly. But what was really startling was the enormous, wiggling, shiny red penis he was trying to poke on into her.  
She gasped and quelling a scream, put her hand over herself, and shook her head, no. No! No!  
“Just the tip,” he begged, “Just the tip and I’ll spin every damn bit of that wool and straw into gold for you!”  
Just the tip was all that was going to fit, she thought. It looked like an oversized zucchini someone had left far too long on the vine. She wondered if their private parts had to be that large, in order that they might find them beneath their beards and huge bellies. In a confusing burst of lust and grotesque horror, she felt like a cat in heat, and wanted to yowl. She also felt like falling to the ground on all fours, and being as close to the earth as possible, the source of the powerful pulsing emanations. So he gently moved her hand away and slipped the tip in. It was unbelievably hot, like a superheated stone that had baked in the summer sun, and covered in warm slime, which made it slide very nicely, and both intensified and soothed the burning need.  
“Spread your legs farther,” he urged, breathing heavily. She tried, but there wasn’t much room anywhere, either inside, on the little wooden stool, or to move around his big belly. So he quickly picked her up and put her on her back, without losing a stroke. The fickle fairy might change her mind again, despite his rooting, lusty earth spell, so he didn’t want to risk letting her go. On the floor, he could move much more freely, and slid as far inside of her as he could, which for him, wasn’t very much, but seemed to make her gasp. But he didn’t get to mate very often, so he definitely planned to make the most of the exquisite, moist experience of rutting with the beautiful fairy, adding some of his own thick, dwarven essence to her, and making it very hot and sticky indeed. Pausing to look down over his own corpulent belly, he noticed that nearly half of his wonderful, incredible, volcanic steel rod had disappeared inside of her. His toes and ears quivered with delight as he gazed upon it with marvelous, great, swelling pride, and decided to release as much of his core essence as possible, and shot his lava flow deep into her in a mighty burst. He’d done it, he grunted loudly and grinned, admiring again his favorite, most powerful tool, engorged to a truly awesome size, wedged and cemented tightly in his new fairy bride. When she started to struggle, he just pushed her back down, and pumped harder, enjoying her magically induced heat to the fullest. She would be his forever once she bore him a son! Another Son of Rumpelstiltskin, and great would be his name! She was no mere miller’s daughter, but Snow White’s own sister! Every dwarf in the Iron Mountain would envy him once they heard about this! Next time, he would turn her around on her hands and knees, mating with her properly, so that he could see even more of his wonderful, majestic tool, and get a better angle with even deeper penetration for his greater enjoyment.  
She gasped again when the dwarf put her on the floor, and trembled as it slid on into her. At first it felt wonderful to have that deep lust satisfied, and something that felt like superheated mud dripping inside, making him slip farther in. When he grunted and grabbed her feet, pulling them up and pushing her legs farther apart, she just breathed suddenly, since she wasn’t supposed to speak, and let the deep penetration continue, her body welcoming the girth and heat that satisfied a primal urge. At last understanding why cats yowled for a mate, and took the first male that found them, she closed her eyes and sighed. But then it started to hurt, and he kept pushing it in further, grunting and groaning loudly. He had promised just the tip, but he had easily exceeded that, and it started to feel like a huge rock was being jammed and slammed into her body. She bit her lip, suppressing a scream, and opening her eyes, experienced a true moment of utter revulsion, looking up at the leering, grimacing, straining expression on his beet red face. I’m having sex with a horrid, rude and hairy dwarf, she thought, which instantly quelled every magically induced urge, and left her remembering that he had promised to just kiss her, and then put the tip in, not pin her on the floor and try to ram that enormous thing all the way in. He was hideous, and hurting her, so she tried to throw him off, and he just pushed her back down, wedging his oversize penis even farther up into her body, causing jabs and shock waves of pain. He was unbelievably heavy, as if he were just a big boulder someone had rolled on top of her. She pushed and kicked at him, wishing yet again that she had her old strength back, and hurt her hands and feet the same as if she had foolishly swung her fist at a large rock. If she used magic, and transformed him, would the witch know? It wasn’t worth a scream, but it might be worth a spell. The pounding hurt so much it was hard to breathe, and she wanted to shriek, cast a spell on him, and kill him. She tried again to push that horrible, heavy creature off. He tried to grab her arms, and shove her back down again, and might have succeeded, if it weren’t for a terrifying voice that stopped him cold.  
“Rumpelstiltskin!” the witch bellowed, “You wicked, slippery-tongued devil! Still taking advantage of innocent maidens and unsuspecting wenches, I see! I told you before never to come back here, or I’d throw you in the pot!”  
“You can’t do that!” he paused, withdrawing from the fairy and standing up straight to argue with the witch. The fairy escaped, getting as far away from him as quickly as possible, pulling down her dress and sitting silently against the far wall.  
“What?” the old hag demanded, immediately growing angry, “What did you just say?” The witch had no tolerance for anyone defying her.  
“I have been grievously wronged! Your barbarian woman cut off half of my beautiful beard, and stole three pieces of gold, seven gems, and two necklaces from me,” he said, standing there naked and shameless, arms crossed over his big belly, arguing with the witch. “I demand the immediate return of my treasure! And this one,” he said proudly, pointing at the fairy, “Agreed to be my bride in compensation for the beard.”  
The Yaga looked over at Maleficent, “Did you agree to that?” The fairy shook her head in denial and disbelief. No, no! Absolutely not!  
“Oh, yes she did!” the dwarf insisted, “And we’ve already consummated our marriage, which you so rudely interrupted! So I’m entitled to take her as soon as I finish the spinning, which will be my bride-price, and I am entitled to unlimited mating access in the meantime! I also demand my treasure back, as well, with an apology from that thieving barbarian woman!”  
“I warned you before never to come back here,” the witch said, wagging her finger at him, “So if you apologize to the fairy for the magical deception and dishonorable thieving of her charms, you can take your clothes and go.”  
“No,” the dwarf retorted. “I’m entitled to…”  
“Now we’re just wasting good eatin’ time,” the witch decided, “And thank you for detaining my dinner,” she said to the fairy, while she seized the dwarf and hove him into the boiling cauldron. The dwarf howled horribly as he hit the scalding water, and taking her staff, the witch whacked and smacked him back in as he tried to escape from the boiling pot. It was a terrible sight indeed, with the shrieking dwarf and the witch cackling and swearing, “Bwahahaha! Ah, ha, ha, ha, Rumpelstiltskin! And here’s your end, eh? Sneak into my house! Hahaha!” As the fairy sat silent as a ghost against the wall and watched the gruesome proceedings, there was never again any doubt in her mind after seeing Rumpelstiltskin’s end about the witch eating people. Eventually the tough old dwarf struggled no more, and bubbled away in the witch’s pot. “Hmmm…” the witch thought aloud, stirring the contents, and straining out copious amounts of Rumpelstiltskin’s red hair. “What goes good with dwarf? Dwarf in a base of leftover rat stew… Too late to take out the rats… There’s a little flavoring from the roast beast… Hard biscuits? They’re tough… Mmm… onions… yes… more onions…” She turned around and saw the frightened fairy, still exactly where she had been. “Well, don’t just sit there staring, get back to work!” Finding her way back to the overturned wooden stool, the fairy sat down, noticing that her hands were aching and swollen from hitting Rumpelstiltskin, and that her feet were in even worse shape, bruised black and blue, and bleeding heavily from where the king had stitched them back together. She watched as the witch went through Rumpelstiltskin’s clothing, and produced an amazing amount of treasure from it. She pulled two small sacks of gold from the ends of his straight shoes, and shook another two sacks from his stockings. From every pocket coins and gems spilled out, and the witch cackled in delight. Putting them away, she asked the fairy, “Well?”  
Maleficent wasn’t sure what the witch expected, but at least she had the four spools she was supposed to have finished.  
“So are you going to tell the princess what happened?”  
The fairy nodded. She would, and soon. She never should have let the nasty, wicked dwarf touch her, but she hadn’t thought a peck on the cheek constituted a marriage agreement.  
“What and why are you going to tell the princess?” the witch asked, eyeing her suspiciously, “Because if you don’t tell her first she’ll notice large chunks of what looks like sandy oatmeal falling out of your vagina? If he got it in you, he left his gravelly seed, and she’ll notice that!” Then the witch added, “I like the princess. She is like a friendly, fluffy cat that leaves heaps of rodents upon my doorstep every day, and purrs frequently. That I enjoy. You on the other hand, are nothing but trouble. Have no doubt that you are alive because she wants you to be. What the dwarf said was correct, I do enjoy the sweet meat of fairies, and I tried to buy your dead body from the princess, her prince, and your sister Snow White, but the princess begged and offered to pay me to heal you, including seven years of her life and giving part of her soul to you. Seven years of her life, and part of her soul! For you! You! Who are no better than a common, lazy bar wench selling her favors to get out of doing her chores! At best! We both know the evils you’ve indulged in! Now, just imagine how she would have felt to walk in on you and nasty old Rumpelstiltskin rutting on the floor. So, what have you to say for your wicked self?”  
The fairy was rather offended. She loved Aurora very much, and the witch was implying something deceitful and underhanded. What she had with her beloved was a deeply spiritual and emotional connection, a shared soul, which bound them together in a special love that they sometimes expressed physically. She wasn’t looking forward to telling Aurora what had happened because she might be hurt, and feel betrayed. But that had not been the fairy’s intent at all. Intercourse with the base and rude dwarf had been a hideous, horrible accident, brought on by some strange magic she hadn’t known about before. It would all be so much easier if the witch would allow her to speak, but that wasn’t the case, so she decided that this was worth using the precious paper and ink on. She hoped that Diaval would return sometime soon, and bring her more. But he now had a lady friend and two sets of fledglings; this year’s and the previous, that absorbed the majority of his time. The witch made a disgusted noise, and then left her alone. She wrote carefully, trying to describe the events as delicately as possible, without using up too much space on the paper. She ended the painful narrative with a statement of how much she loved Aurora, and hoped that the princess still loved her, too.  
When Aurora came back to the cottage, bringing with her a basket full of fresh trout, she was looking forward to grilling up some fish and drinking the last of their pumpkin ale. The witch had apparently run out of pumpkins to steal. They hadn’t, sadly, run out of rats. She put the fish basket down and sniffing the air said, “Something smells icky, like sweaty old man and coppery hot rocks covered with slime.” Ickier than usual, she thought.  
The witch cackled, “Boiling up dwarf and rat stew! Ha ha! And look,” she said, fishing around in the cauldron with her staff and pulling up the dwarf’s gold hoop earring, “Prizes!”  
“It will probably be fish again for me,” Aurora said, “Thank you for offering, though,” laughing with the witch until she looked over at the fairy, who didn’t look happy at all. She normally didn’t seem overly enthusiastic about sitting at the spinning wheel, but tonight she looked very disturbed.  
“We can thank her for the dwarf,” the witch called to Aurora, “The same dwarf whose beard you cut three times to save his worthless life wanted his treasure back. Claimed you stole it, and said that in compensation for cutting his beard, he was entitled to your fairy love’s hand in marriage.”  
“What?” Aurora exclaimed. “Oh, Mother Bear was right!” Then, she sat down next to Maleficent and kissed her cheek. Noticing the bruises on her hands, and battered, bleeding feet, Aurora asked, “What happened? Are you hurt?” The fairy, upon feeling the gentle arms around her and hearing her lover’s sweet voice full of concern, handed her the paper and started to cry. Aurora read what she had written, and wasn’t sure what to think. She certainly wished she’d never met that wicked dwarf, or told him where they lived! But there were other things that disturbed her. She wondered why her beautiful fairy love had been willing to give away a kiss, let alone the netherkiss, just for the dwarf spinning some wool for her, and how exactly they ended up on the floor when the witch found them. She folded the paper up in her hands, furrowed her brow, and looked over at the witch. “What was going on?”  
“Aye,” the witch said, “She was lying on her back, trying to push him off of her.”  
“Then he raped her!” Aurora exclaimed.  
“That was the end result,” the witch conceded, looking askance at the fairy, who accepted Aurora’s compassionate embrace.  
“Poor dear!” Aurora whispered to her, holding her tightly. Then something occurred to her, “Grandmother, is there a potion you can give her, to make sure she doesn’t have a baby from this?”  
“Why, yes there is, Princess, yes there is.”  
“Can you make it for her? It would awful if she had that dreadful dwarf’s baby!”  
“Wasn’t anybody’s prince, now was he?” the witch cackled, as she went through her collection of herbs and mixtures. She continued her chuckling as she mixed up a foul-smelling brew in large wooden cup, and set it, stinking and steaming hot in front of the fairy. “Here,” she said with a wicked smile, “You drink this. All of it,” she added slowly with great emphasis, “The perky princess and I are going to drink the last of the pumpkin ale.”  
“Oh, thank you!” Aurora exclaimed to the witch, “I’m so glad!” Then she hugged the fairy, and kissed her gently asking, “Is there anything else I can do for you? Are you hurt?”  
Maleficent just held her tightly, relieved on several levels, and overjoyed that Aurora still wanted her. She put her head on the princess’ shoulder, and felt blessed indeed to be loved by her. After holding her for a few minutes, Aurora shredded the dwarf’s leggings, and made them into bandages to put around the fairy’s feet. The stitches were coming out, and the cold, blue flesh didn’t seem to have attached very well. It would have eventually been fine, the princess thought, if she hadn’t had to kick them against that heavy brick of dwarf, thus injuring them further.  
The witch handed Aurora some of the pumpkin ale, and settled back onto her own bed to slurp down an enormous bowl of rat and dwarf stew. “Should be better the second night,” the witch commented. “We need some carrots and potatoes in it, too.” Then she smoked her pipe and savored the last of the tasty ale, while she watched the fairy take her first sip of the special potion.  
It tasted hideous. Not that the fairy had expected anything that smelled that bad to taste good, but the witch had outdone herself in horribleness. The flavor was awful, but the texture was gross and vile as well, slippery and sickening, like peppery, rotten egg, slug-slime cocktail heavily flavored with bitter, pungent dead ass and flea mint. The first sip almost came back up while the witch howled with laughter. “Drink up!” the witch cackled, “Or should we start sewing a layette for the next Son of Rumpelstiltskin? That scoundrel has done this before! Offer to help some poor maiden, take advantage of her, and then claim as his prize her ugly baby. Dwarves do have mothers, Maleficent. But most of the non-dwarven ones run away, leaving the proud fathers to display their sons to the world.”  
“That’s not very nice,” Aurora observed, sniffing the horrid brew. “Should I get you a bowl?” She suspected that the nasty drink might come back up, at least some of it. Aurora thought that if she had to drink that hideous concoction, she would probably vomit it back up immediately. Then again, she thought, giving birth to a dwarf baby in the witch’s hut, without being able to say a word, would be a whole lot worse. So she encouraged the fairy to drink it, although she felt rather mean by sitting there sipping delicious pumpkin ale while saying such things, and the witch cackled away, pointing and laughing.  
“So,” the witch asked, with a twinkle in her eye, “If any more dwarves come around wiggling their ears and asking for kisses, what should your answers be?”  
“What are you talking about?” Aurora asked warily. “What do you mean, any more dwarves?”  
The witch laughed, “There’s entire mountains full! Among the dwarves there is a story of a princess who stayed in a cottage with seven dwarves. It is their favorite tale, along with the legend of a goddess who traded her favors for a magic girdle of irresistibility. The facts surrounding these stories may be murky at best, but let’s just say they have high hopes.” Then she paused and said, “Here’s a secret no one would ever tell you, but that I do know. Dopey was not one of the original Seven Dwarves that Snow White stayed with, oh no! Dopey is Snow White’s firstborn child! Grumpy’s brother who stomped off was nicknamed Ocho the Grouch! That’s why there’s seven left now! Ai! Now there’s a sweet bit of gossip for you! Hahaha! She was in that cottage more than a year before Queen Clecie bothered to chase her, and another several years before the noble prince came along, searching for the key to kingship of the White City off in the woods, whoo hoo!” the witch laughed. “Plenty of parties! The dwarves probably think that if the snowy white one was a trollop, the wicked fairy sister must be even easier! Hahaha!” She cackled wildly and loudly, as the fairy and the princess listened and looked at each other, feeling something akin to scared and scandalized.  
Then Aurora looked skeptical at the witch’s gossiping and said, “But how does any of this even happen? The dwarves are neither handsome nor charming.”  
“Dwarves have a form of elemental earth sex magic,” the old witch laughed, “And they don’t want you to know about it! Male dwarves vastly outnumber female ones, as well. The female dwarves are bigger, meaner, and immune to the males’ magic and lies. Leaves a lot of fellas without females, and so they roam,” the old hag cackled, “They don’t want anyone to know about their secret language, either, or let anyone into their underground halls.”  
“But what is it?” Aurora persisted.  
“Different species have innate magical abilities, according to their elements, and their kinds. For instance, some fairies are of air, and so they have transformative spells, quick tempers, wind magic, and fly. Fairies fall in love, and proceed downward from the heart and mind to the more physical expressions of their feelings. Sometimes they go completely crazy with it, and obsess about the object of their longing. Dwarves are of the earth, and so they have a slow, base form of magic that comes from the rocks and stones. They don’t need to fall head over heels in love to feel like mating, and most of them would laugh at anyone who did. Their interest is a much more physical one. They want to feel those hairy, bodily sensations! So they have a secret type of magic that brings out the rutting season in females, if they can get their grubby hands on one! Usually works a lot better on human females than on fairies, because humans are a combination of all the elements, and there are some who also have a lot of earthiness, and who can really enjoy those dwarven pleasures, especially if there’s nobody looking. Woe is them, though, because that’s how those sneaky dwarves procreate sons!”  
“How awful!” Aurora exclaimed, putting her arms around Maleficent, “And poor Snow White!”  
“Aye,” the witch agreed, “Snow White never knew what hit her. Still doesn’t, the silly thing!”  
The witch’s stories did however motivate the fairy to drink all of the hideous brew, even though she then felt quite sick, and Aurora brought her a bowl, as she lay down on the edge of their furry nest, and closed her eyes. It all started with the nausea induced by the ghastly texture and flavor of the brew itself, and quickly became a stomach ache, accompanied by sweating and occasional agonizing cramping. Aurora lay with her, and stroked her hair, until the princess fell asleep, and the witch’s loud snoring began shortly thereafter. In the still of the night, there was no distraction from her misery, but the noisy witch’s snoring. Silently cursing all dwarves, she breathed to control the nausea and intense cramps. She managed not to vomit until close to morning, and kept passing large amounts of the oatmeal-looking substance the witch had described. She fell asleep just before sunrise, and for once, was not awakened at daybreak by the witch’s staff.  
Aurora awoke to see the witch eating her own breakfast, slurping something from a bowl. “Thank you for letting me sleep,” Aurora said.  
“Taking care of her, you’ll need it,” the witch remarked, putting her wooden bowl up to her lips and finishing the last of whatever it was. “You’ll always be taking care of her. Are you sure you want that?”  
“What do you mean?” Aurora laughed. “Once we’re done with our seven years, and she can talk and do magic again, everything will be fine.”  
“Didn’t this last event teach you anything?”  
“I don’t understand.”  
“She’s a wild thing. Feral, always will be. You cannot bring her into the World of Men. She has beauty and energy, and will always be a target for someone or something. The dwarves acted first because they are brash and forceful, but humans will do it, too. They will try to control, murder, or misuse her as well, just as the Seven Dwarves and then Rumpelstiltskin did. This has happened before and it will happen again. All wild things need protection or they will be misused. You will forever be her guardian against them, unless you set her free back where you found her.”  
Aurora looked thoughtful, pondering what the witch had just said. “I don’t think it has to be that way. But she can use magic; she’s stronger than they are.”  
“That only makes her more of a target; something for men to try to use and control. They’ll use her as a weapon if they can. Rumpelstiltskin had big, greedy plans for what he wanted her for! Why do you think her own mother stashed her away in the Land of the Fey? Because that’s where she belongs! The Wild does not fit into marble halls, even if it wants to. And certainly not into deep Dwarven halls of stone! Cages come in many types, perky princess. Clecie’s fate should show you that. How long did you have Maleficent in the White City before the dwarves ambushed and murdered her?”  
“About two weeks,” Aurora sighed.  
“First Snow White, and now you, think you can keep her with you in a castle, safe from all harm, so that you can enjoy her and the comforts of human life. You can’t. Even if you succeed, she’s wild, and won’t ever be happy in the stone prison that she will view a palace as, or in the invisible iron cage that she will come to see the World of Men as. Perhaps you should love her enough to set her free when the time comes.”  
Tears welled up in the princess’ eyes, and said, “But we’re going to live in Fairyland together.”  
“Then what did you bring her to White Castle for?”  
“Because Prince Phillip and I were contemplating marriage, and he wanted me to meet his parents. He didn’t want her to go with us, but she came anyway…” Aurora thought aloud.  
“You were going to marry someone else? Do you love him?”  
“Not the way I love her. He’s a very good friend. We were just going to get married to unite our kingdoms and have heirs…”  
“So you did bring her there to die!” the witch cackled, “In one fashion or another.”  
Aurora wanted to cry, “Not intentionally!” Then she said, “I didn’t know then how she really felt, what she truly wanted… I would never have hurt her if I had known! I wish there was a way that she and I could be together, and that we could have children. But that’s impossible.”  
“Which part?” the witch asked.  
“All of it, isn’t it?”  
“No, unless you cast your true love aside to do what other people tell you to,” the witch answered, going through her cupboards.  
“Even if I don’t marry Phillip, and just live in Fairyland with Maleficent, I wouldn’t be able to have a child, and that is something that I want very much.”  
“The world’s full of children nobody wants,” the witch answered, pulling out a silver bowl from her cupboard, and a series of bags and bottles. “So many I could throw hundreds in my pot and that still wouldn’t be the last of them. There’s always more. Remember our visit to the Beast? He was hardly unusual, just arrogant and egregious. Just wait, you’ll see.”  
“That awful!” Aurora exclaimed, thinking first about the eating and secondly about the witch’s claim that nobody wanted so many children. “How could anyone feel that way?”  
“How do you think your fairy love would have felt about Rumpelstiltskin’s child? She would not have delighted in her dwarven daughter, but rather felt only anger and shame, stemming from the manner of the child’s conception. You would have felt sorry for the unfortunate, red-haired, horned female dwarf, whom you would have named Copper and taken care of for the absent fairy mother whom you would have eventually come to resent and dislike for her cold, aloof behavior. But you would do your good work, as you would have seen it, despite the child’s resemblance to her father in both appearance and personality, until such a time when she left to seek the other dwarves in their dark halls under the earth, and found that she didn’t like them, either. By then, your love affair with Maleficent would have been destroyed beyond recall. So there we have it, don’t we?”  
“How do you know that?” Aurora asked in amazement.  
“It’s obvious, as predictable as the chill that will come with winter. This one wasn’t wanted, either,” the witch said, petting Maleficent’s wing, and taking a single feather, “Except by you. Even her mother couldn’t bring herself to claim her in public. And how was she treated? Now, a child that is wanted, and of mixed spirits, is another thing entirely, and you’ve come to the right place for that!” the hag cackled, cutting pieces of the feather. “Because you make such delicious meals for me, and help out without ever complaining, I am inclined to make very special exceptions for you in matters where others never have choices.” She handed the princess three tiny dolls made from Aurora’s and Maleficent’s hair twisted together to form the bodies, and their little wings were made from a scrap of the fairy’s feather. “Keep these safe, and when the time comes, plant them deep when the moon is full, troth your love to each other, and they’ll grow.”  
“Thank you very much,” the princess said graciously, but feeling a little confused, she asked, “Plant them in the ground?” The witch laughed so hard and loud that Aurora got the point, and giggled. “Oh, I put them in there! And that makes a baby?”  
“Only these spirit baby dolls that I have enchanted. Ordinary hairballs, no. And that’s if you choose to use them, and to keep her. You will still have the problem of mixing a very sensitive and easily offended fairy with the world of men. Those tiny dolls will yield a fey mix of your spirits and talents. Have you talked to Snow White about what having a child like that around is like? What about your handsome prince? He’d make nice, calm, well-behaved human children.”  
“But he has his own true love, and I have mine,” Aurora explained, tucking the magic dolls tenderly into her medicine bag that she kept around her neck. “Nor is he terribly concerned with having children. He already has fourteen older siblings, and an abundance of nieces and nephews. I am the one who wants children, and the only living heir to my kingdom. Yes, I have heard Snow White’s stories, and it seemed to me that an eight-year old shouldn’t be raising a baby, and certainly not responsible for a flying baby who throws temper tantrums! Her parents should have been raising her, not another child!”  
“I would like to point out that all of those people are her relatives,” the witch said slowly, with great emphasis. “With her, you could get Clecie, or Snow White with wings. With the handsome prince, you might simply get Snow White.”  
Aurora laughed, “I’m sure whatever we have, I will love it. Even Copper the Dwarf,” she said, “Though there is no longer any chance of that, is there? I do not want to lose Maleficent. Either in some distant future, or during an agonizing birth where she would be forbidden to speak.”  
“Yes, you do feel that way,” the witch agreed. “But that fate has passed.”  
“I feel sort of sad, in an odd way,” Aurora said wistfully, “Because now I am thinking about a person. If I could choose, though, I would wish for a beautiful child who looks like both of us, and has wings. I think that would be so wonderful! And having wings would be amazing! I wish I had them,” Aurora laughed. Then she thought, “Can you see all of what is and what will be?”  
“There are many potential fates, and each has a chance of occurring; some slight, some all but inevitable. There’s no need to feel sad about things, everyone who might live won’t. It’s just the way things are. And many people who live will die, and that’s how it goes, too. The future changes with the decisions people make. So make wise ones. And be careful what you wish for, because you might get it.”  
“What if I wish for Maleficent and I to be happy? Doesn’t that cover everything?”  
“Everything and nothing,” the witch laughed, “Aren’t you mostly happy whatever you’re doing?”  
“Sort of,” the princess answered. “I always try to find the best in things, and focus on that.”  
“So once again you are back to making her happy. That is not known for being easy to do,” the witch noted. “You are more or less happy whatever you’re doing. She is not, and will never be as long as you try to mix her in with the human world.”  
“But I have her for the next three years, don’t I? Before I have to set her free.”  
“Aye, you have her for the next three years; if she abides by my rules; no magic, no defiance, and no talking! You two had plenty of time to do fairy spells, chattering and acting up, and got nothing done but misunderstandings and silliness. Now you do things my way. When she wakes, she’ll toss the tea back up, and then bleed heavily after passing the rest of the dwarf love.” So saying, the old hag put her silver bowl back on the shelf and went outside. In an instant she was in her cauldron, and up and away.  
Aurora lay back down, and put her arms around the sleeping fairy, thinking about how much she would miss her, if they were forced to part. Yes, she had thought that after the introductions had been made, that she could bring Maleficent with her when she and Phillip stayed at White Castle, her father’s old keep, or any of a number of other residences Phillip’s family owned. It hadn’t ever occurred to her not to. Was the witch right? Maleficent looked different, but the dwarves had looked different, too. Was that all there was to it? Or was there more? Touching the sleeping fairy’s soft hair, she realized that Clecie had looked mostly human but had still gone insane.  
Feeling Aurora’s arms around her, and breath in her ear, Maleficent woke up close to midday. It was a lovely, tender moment, but she had to ruin it by vomiting in the bowl again.  
“It’s almost over,” Aurora assured her, petting her hair and holding her. “The witch told me there might be a little more vomiting, and after the sandy oatmeal goes away, you’ll bleed quite a bit, but it’s over.” The fairy cried with relief, and slept the rest of the afternoon, while Aurora got up and went about most of her normal chores. By evening, Maleficent was well enough to sit up and drink some water. Aurora made her some peppermint tea, which made the rest of the nausea go away, and the bleeding begin.  
The witch arrived home that evening, and demanded her dinner. Aurora served her the last of the rat and dwarf stew, and then cleaned out the cauldron. She was not surprised to find small gems, jeweled beads, and ear and toe rings at the bottom. Smoking her pipe and letting out an echoing belch, the witch proclaimed, “We ain’t got no more pumpkin ale, but I’ve got a hankering for crab juice! Get ready to pack up!”


	29. Hansel and Gretel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Baba Yaga has a varied diet, and thinks Hansel and Gretel would be tasty treats. Aurora has to think of a way to save them.

Chapter 29  
Hansel & Gretel

The witch became bored with their locations periodically, and so the hut would get up on its chicken legs and run to a new place. It was the task of the princess and the fairy to dismantle the bone fence, pack up the witch’s cherished yard debris, and load it all into the flying cauldron, where the witch would bring it to the new spot, and then they would unload it all and rebuild, making it look much like it had before. Aurora would take apart and disassemble the gruesome lawn ornaments, then hand them to the fairy, who would bundle them up, and organize them within the cauldron, so they could be efficiently retrieved and reassembled. They had done this enough times to have become quite fast at it.   
The only advantage to this new spot, they were to discover, was that it was within a few miles of the ocean, and that was the purpose of their having come there. The witch was cackling to herself about how much she was going to enjoy some seafood while they reassembled her yard. Aurora didn’t mind working, but Maleficent did. She tried not to think about how much more enjoyable life in Fairyland was, but couldn’t help herself. Not being allowed to speak or do magic made everything she did much harder and take longer than it had to. She didn’t enjoy touching the witch’s disgusting items at all, and was only grateful that the horse stable and chicken coop also had their own animal-like legs to run behind the main hut with, and that they were spared disassembling that foul wooden cage. Horse poop was bad, but chicken droppings were much worse. Some feeling had returned to her feet, and it wasn’t a good thing. Mostly it made standing or walking long distances painful, and it made her wish she could fly, but her wings were mostly useless. Snow White’s evil dwarves had hacked them almost completely apart, so that they were mere vestiges of what they had once been. Kicking Rumpelstiltskin had torn open the king’s stitches on her feet and ankles, which hadn’t been healing very well to begin with. Now they were bloodied, bruised, and she was afraid that if she took the socks, booties, and bandages off again, her feet might well go with them. In a gruesomely curious moment, she had inspected one, and peeled the skin back, the entire thing threatening to simply fall away. She had felt lightheaded and worried, to see how her cold, blue feet, more dead than alive, seemed to so ready to separate from the rest of her body, and quickly put the bandages, socks, and booties back on. Thank you, red-haired she-devil, she thought to herself. Her feet aching, she sat down after helping Aurora reassemble the bone fence, only to have the witch announce their next task. They were to go to the ocean shore, and collect up whatever they could find, but it seemed the witch had an obsessive desire for crab juice. Aurora agreed, and went to fetch the baskets. Maleficent sat where she was, and looked resentfully at the witch. Crab juice, she thought. Of everything they might find on the beach, and the most repulsive thing they might possibly make out of it that was the most time and labor intensive, crab juice was a clear winner. The witch knew what she was thinking, and got a hearty laugh out of it.   
Aurora handed her a basket along with a cheery smile. She was looking forward to seeing the ocean, and was quite excited. Sea birds, pounding surf, an expanse of wide water with no end in sight! With a silent sigh of complete exasperation, Maleficent got up and followed Aurora. “Oh, come on,” Aurora gushed. “We’re going to the seashore! This will be fun!” Maleficent nodded in agreement and forced herself to smile at Aurora’s enthusiasm. If by “fun,” she meant anywhere the stinky, horrid old witch wasn’t, then yes, this would be fun indeed. It was a pleasant walk for Aurora, through the wild roses and bracken to the windswept grasslands that bordered the salt water. The fairy would have enjoyed it much more if her feet hadn’t ached, or if she could have flown. Once at the seashore, gathering crabs and more was simple. There were little crabs under rocks everywhere, and large pieces of dead ones were lying all over the beach. Filling up her basket quickly and sitting down, Maleficent enjoyed looking at the waves, and took her shoes off. Her feet were aching horribly, so she sat on a flat rock in the surf, and let the cold seawater soothe them. She was glad to be alive again, and in the company of her beloved Aurora, but her body didn’t always cooperate. Her wings were tattered and torn, her feet seemed determined to remain dead, and she still occasionally had awful cramping from the nasty potion the witch had given her to drink. As Aurora would have told her cheerfully, at least she wasn’t pregnant with Rumpelstiltskin’s child! The fairy sighed. Yes, cramping and dead feet were better than that.  
Aurora took much more time finding less-broken crabs, and some choicer items that she wanted for their own dinner, after boiling up the dead things for the witch’s latest craving of crab juice. Setting her basket down beside Maleficent’s, she waded out into the surf to fetch her fairy friend, who had been quietly sitting on a rock while the ocean pounded around her. Aurora was disappointed to discover two things; one, that Maleficent’s feet were bleeding, and that she was going to have to carry the fairy to shore and wash out her shoes. The cold water had numbed up the fairy’s feet, so they decided to try walking back to the hut. Halfway, the fairy simply sat down and refused to go any further. The numbing chill from the ocean had worn off, and her feet felt like hot, pounding, bloody balls of pain. Aurora wondered what would be the wisest thing to do, and ended up leaving Maleficent and Diaval waiting there in a meadow by the edge of the forest, and took both baskets of crabs back to the witch. Then, she was obliged to retrace her steps, and go back for her friend, whom she was planning to carry the rest of the way.  
While Aurora was gone, Maleficent fell asleep on the edge of the meadow. The raven decided to fly around and help himself to some more of the tasty seafood bits on the shore. He’d been dutifully attending to the nest and fledglings with his lady love, and now that the little ones were flown, he had some time to spend with friends. When he returned, quite fat and sleepy himself, to where the fairy slept, he settled onto a low branch and nodded off. He was suddenly awakened by a pair of grubby little hands.  
“Now we can eat this fat crow,” a dirty little boy was telling his sister.  
“How?” the little girl whined. “He doesn’t look very happy. He looks sharp and pointy.”  
The crow escaped from the boy’s hands, and went to awaken the fairy, who was still fast asleep. The boy chased him, and upon seeing the sleeping fairy, picked up a stick. “What are you doing?” the little girl asked.  
“I think it’s dead,” the boy said, looking at the fairy’s rag dress, bleeding feet, and tattered wings. So he began poking the sleeping fairy with a stick. Jabbing her in the shoulders first, and then in the face, she woke up feeling annoyed. Seeing her sit up, both urchins turned and ran away screaming into the forest while the raven cawed. If she had been permitted to speak, she would have spoken, but she wasn’t, so she simply watched them run away. They looked hungry and dirty, like they had been running around in the woods for a while.   
The children continued to run in a frantic, haphazard way, until they came to an amazing sight. A gingerbread house, there in the forest! Fluffy frosting roof, candy trim, and cupcakes on candy canes for a fence, it was all they could have ever dreamed! Excited and starving, they rushed up to it and began to tear pieces off of the fences, walls, and decorations, stuffing their mouths as quickly as they could, making yummy noises and grinning in delight. They were quite surprised when an old baker woman appeared and asked them what they were doing.  
“Nothing, nothing!” they insisted, hands and mouths full of frosting, and started to run away.  
“Come back, children!” the old woman called. “You have eaten my house and fence, but no harm done! Come in and sit by the fire!”   
They looked doubtfully at one another, but since they were lost in the woods, they decided that they didn’t have that many options. So they did as they were told, and followed the old woman into the gingerbread house, which strangely enough smelled of crabs. The little girl was less than thrilled to discover that she would be boiling crabs while her brother got to sit with the baker woman and eat cupcakes. It didn’t seem very fair to her, but she did as she was told.   
Aurora had been obliged to walk halfway back to the ocean in order to fetch Maleficent. Next time, she thought, I’m going to ask Diaval to turn into a human and carry her. Maleficent didn’t need a nap that badly and Diaval didn’t need to stuff himself with seafood, either. She would have to tell her friends these things, she thought. Although she didn’t mind the walk, she wasn’t wild about the idea of finding their way back in the dark. The fairy was right where Aurora had left her, sitting there quietly. “I suppose I shall have to pad those boots somehow,” Aurora said, mostly to herself as she gently lifted her friend. The fawn booties that the fairy wore indoors were not adequate for the tasks of walking and working outdoors. She wished, not for the first or last time, that the fairy could speak. It would have been nice to have known that her feet hurt again before getting halfway back to the cottage with two enormous baskets of stinky crabs. She could have planned her workload much better that way. Then again, she thought, anything that kept them away from the witch longer wasn’t a bad thing, really. Aurora had difficulty seeing in the dark, and so the way was slow as the fairy could point which direction to go in, but not actually say it. Thus, it was dark indeed when they arrived at where the fairy had indicated the witch’s cottage was, but instead of a filthy hut on chicken legs was a candy-covered A-frame house.   
“Oh, no!” Aurora exclaimed in frustration. “This isn’t it!” The fairy nodded her head that it was, and leaning over to a cupcake fencepost, touched it. She was forbidden to perform magic, not to detect and identify it. At her touch, the cupcake lost its illusionary enchantment, and revealed itself as a skull. Aurora hoped that didn’t count as magic, for the witch’s purposes, so she said no more, and just carried the fairy down the candy cane lane to the front door, which had been enchanted to look like gumballs and frosting. “What on earth?” Aurora mumbled as she pushed on the icing-covered door.   
She was even more surprised to see the inside. Instead of the cages, dreadful knick-knacks and filth normally in the cottage, it had the look and feel of a bake sale. The table was covered in treats, and both the witch’s grimy couch and the fur nest were enchanted to look like inviting beds of billowy softness, the blankets frosted with cream rosettes. The stag’s antlers that normally held the witch’s underpants to dry over the hearth looked like cheerful candy cane swags draped with pretty red and white papers. The only things that appeared as they really were, Aurora noted, were the boiling cauldron and the baskets of crabs. Even the witch seemed less terrifying, and had disguised herself as a jolly old baker woman. “What is this?” she asked, seeing a dirty little girl boiling up crabs, and the witch feasting on cupcakes with an equally filthy little boy.  
“Mind your manners!” the witch chided her. “These are our new friends, Hansel and Gretel. And,” she said to the children, “These are my servants, Princess Aurora and Maleficent the fairy. Perhaps you have heard of them.”  
Indeed they had. Everyone knew of the wicked fairy Maleficent, and how she killed and cursed people. She cursed a baby princess, who then had to sleep for a thousand years somewhere, out behind a wall of thorns. She cursed other people, too, killed a king, and could turn herself into a dragon. The wicked fairy was very evil indeed! Someday a handsome prince would come and kill her and break the spell on the princess, but that could be a thousand years from now. They looked askance at the tall blond woman in deerskin, holding the bedraggled fairy dressed in rags and gripping a pair of boots. The fairy’s feet were bare, chafed, and bloody. They recognized her as the sleeping fairy from the meadow that they thought was dead. She still looked sort of dead, the children thought, very pale and with dark circles under her eyes. They did wonder if the wild medicine woman had saved the evil fairy, and why on earth she had. Then again, the wicked, evil fairy didn’t seem very scary, she just looked unhappy. So they simply stared. Aurora wasn’t quite sure what the witch was up to, but she didn’t like it, and was also tired, and wanted to set the fairy down somewhere and rest.  
“Go back outside,” the witch ordered Aurora, “And clean her up and yourself.” Annoyed, the princess turned around and went back outside. “And get some eggs! We’ve got baking to do!” the witch shouted after them.   
To her disgusted horror, her sturdy deerskin suit had changed into a bakery maid’s outfit, complete with little tasseled booties and a beanie hat. Maleficent’s rags had also transformed, into a white milkmaid’s gown, embroidered with little red rosettes and strawberries. On her feet, nicely hiding the blood and stitches that weren’t healing properly, were fancy crimson slippers with golden fluffs. Even worse, to their way of looking at things, their hair had been restyled, from Aurora’s simple, functional braid to a golden cascade of curls that reminded Maleficent strongly of Clecie’s wedding painting, except for the silly, candy-like bows the witch had added. The fairy’s dark hair had been twisted up with ribbons to disguise her horns, and beautiful ruby blossoms and leaves had been put and pinned in. Around her neck, covering the still-visible scar from the Happy the Dwarf’s axe, was a pretty red bow. Similar ribbons covered her other scars; around her wrist, ankles, and arms. “I can’t believe she did this to us,” Aurora said, and she heard the sound of the raven’s laughter. “There’s nothing really amusing about it,” Aurora told him, “You know she plans on eating those children! She’s fattening them up with sweets!”  
That stilled the bird’s mirth, and the fairy in her arms looked thoughtful. Aurora set her fairy friend down on the wooden bench outside the chicken coop, which had been enchanted to look like a gingerbread settee, matching the adorable and edible looking cottage. Maleficent tapped it with her finger, and Aurora saw it as it all really was- the gingerbread was really chicken poop. Everything that had been enchanted to look, taste, smell, and feel like gingerbread was chicken poop, and the fudge decorations were horse turds similarly enchanted, what appeared to be frosting was really dust and ground bones. Maleficent tapped her fingers again, and Aurora seized her hand, “Stop it! She will catch you!” Aurora whispered.   
Maleficent looked at her, and sighed. The usual tattletale toads had been transformed into motionless candy statues. If ever there were a time to accomplish some magic of her own, this was the moment. But no, Aurora was so set on following rules! She smiled, and thought about doing all sorts of spells, but Aurora read her mind and was horrified. “No, no, no!” she whispered. “Please just stop it and help me gather some eggs!” She handed Maleficent one of the egg-gathering baskets, and added, “Just do what you’re told, please? We only have three more years here in this awful place. Don’t fail now!”  
Maleficent gave her a look that quite clearly conveyed what she thought, and tried to stand up. Despite looking fluffy and soft, the slippers were binding and chafing her bleeding feet, as well as being itchy and irritating. She shook her head and sat back down. Aurora gathered the eggs herself, and brought them into the house, returning again for the fairy. Picking her up, she said, “I’ll boil up some crabs for us to eat. You sit quietly at the table and decorate cookies the way the witch tells you to. Don’t let her or the children trick you into saying anything!”   
Eating boiled crabs was the best part of their evening, and then they returned to their normal tasks. Although prettied up to look cheerful, the laundry and the spinning wheel were still there. Listening to the witch tell fanciful tales to the children, pretending to be a kind, jolly old baker woman, who fed them treats that were really bones and turds, was a new form of horrid on the part of the witch. She asked them about their parents, and how they had come to be lost in the woods. It seemed that their mother had died years ago, and their father had remarried, and their new stepmother didn’t like them. Their father had married her because she had a small farm, and he had been unable to support the family for many years after all the spinning wheels were burnt, and there was no one he could sell wool to. He was obliged to travel long distances to find buyers for sheep’s wool, and he became poorer and poorer. Nobody had wanted to buy his sheep either, so once they had eaten them there was nothing left. They talked long into the night, about the poverty and hardships that the children had endured due to the wicked fairy’s curse. And, the witch pointed out, that same wicked fairy was now her servant as part of her punishment. Laughing, the witch asked the children to think of ways they could punish the evil fairy for her deeds. Not surprisingly, the first thing the children came up with was not eating. Hunger was something they were quite familiar with, and now that they were gorging themselves on sweets, they wanted to deprive the evil fairy of that same pleasure. Instead, they decided that all she would be given to eat was crab shells. Ironically, the wicked fairy was quite relieved to be denied that pleasure, as she was acutely aware of what those frosted treats really were, and picking at crab shells was far preferable to eating foul, enchanted concoctions of bone and excrement. The evil fairy didn’t seem very sad about her crab shells, and so the witch exhorted the children to keep thinking! She reminded them of all the terrible things that wicked fairy had done, and all the people she had killed or hurt. Did it seem fair that she should sleep in a pretty bed, wear fancy clothes, and have a princess to pamper her and carry her around? The witch laughed as she drank her crab juice, and watched the fairy’s reaction.  
“No!” the children declared, “Not at all!” They thought it far more fitting that she should wear rags and sleep in the dirt. They also thought that the nastiest chores should be hers; like cleaning the fireplace, and scrubbing out the enormous cauldron, which had become a huge, scummy crab-pot. Sitting there comfortably at the spinning wheel listening to stories didn’t seem like much of a punishment. They also thought it was grossly unfair of the fairy to cause everyone else’s spinning wheels to be burnt, but still keep one for herself.  
Aurora didn’t like where this was going at all, and so decided to beat the witch at her own game. While Maleficent was scrubbing out the crab pot with a toothpick, the children’s own choice of tools, Aurora swept the floor and told them stories of Fairyland, and silly tales of the things her three pixie aunties would do when she was young. She also told them how she had lost her parents, and things weren’t always what they seemed.  
Later that night, when the children were quiet, as well as sleepy and stuffed, as Aurora tucked them into the giant confection of a bed that their fur nest had been transformed into. The witch sat on her own bed, also disguised as a frosted dessert, and smoked her old pipe, although she appeared to be sucking on a candy cane. Aurora added some wood to the fire, and sat beside it while her beloved was tasked to finish cleaning out the stinky cauldron before she could lie down and sleep in the dirt. Fortunately, watching Maleficent scrub became boring very quickly, and the witch fell asleep soon after the children. Once she was safely asleep, and they could tell by her awful snoring, Aurora quickly finished the cauldron cleaning chore, and replaced it back on its hook over the fireplace. Finding some old tattered blankets, they lay down together on the floor, making the best of it. Sleeping on the hard wooden floor was not pleasant, and when the witch woke them the next morning with her whacking stick, they arose with achy backs and hips. The witch chuckled, and gave them their orders for the day. They were to return to the seashore, and collect up more crabs- all they could find, taking not just two baskets but two each. When they returned, they were to make more delicious crab juice for the witch, and then to clean the cottage and do her laundry. Aurora rose stiffly, but the fairy could only stand with difficulty. Not only did her feet still hurt, but now she had body aches as well, and she dreaded walking all the way to the ocean and back.   
“Prepare my breakfast!” the witch ordered them, and so they boiled a large quantity of eggs for the hag, who was not even pretending to be nice when the children were asleep. When they awoke, she once again appeared to be a kind, grandmotherly baker woman, who only wanted to help and give treats to homeless children. Passing up the eggs that the witch and Aurora ate, since the wicked fairy was given only crab shells, the children once again gorged themselves on candies, cakes, and more sweets. They clapped and smiled when the wicked fairy looked sad at breakfast, wearing her rags and eating crab shells while her feet bled.   
Before the witch could encourage them to think up any new punishments, Aurora took the fairy and the crab baskets and pushed them out the door. She rushed the fairy ahead of her, as quickly as possible until they were out of sight of the witch. She checked the stable first, but the horses had already gone. Aurora knit her brow in frustration. Plenty of poop, she thought, but no actual horses. She knew they were there somewhere, the three white horses from Snow White’s palace, and the black mare owned by the witch. The Yaga also had some very colorful steeds, one of canary yellow and one of bright, crimson red, but they all seemed to come and go without human, or at least Aurora’s knowledge. Sighing, she decided they would have to walk. Out of range of the illusion spell, Aurora’s clothes returned to their regular state, and she picked Maleficent up. “I can carry you to the sea,” Aurora said, “But getting back might be a problem. Once we are there, soak your feet in the ocean, and we shall hope the chilly salt water numbs them enough for you to walk back.” Although that was the hope, things went much as they had the day before, where the numbing effect of the cold water wore off about half way back to the cottage, and the fairy sat down, unable to bear walking on them. Undaunted, Aurora asked Diaval to transform into a man, and to help carry the fairy and the crab baskets. Even with his help, it was dark by the time they both returned to the cottage.   
The children had been gorging all day, and busily thinking up new punishments for the wicked fairy, encouraged by the witch, who was annoyed that they were returning home so late. When Aurora told them that the fairy’s feet were blistered and bloody, and that she couldn’t walk, there were giggles all around the table. It was everything Aurora could do to control her temper, and to remember that the children were being manipulated by the witch, and so not really responsible for the things they said and did. After all, she recalled, the witch clearly wanted her to dislike them, and not help them, and so to sit idly by when the time came for the witch to eat them. As she cooked the crabs for dinner, and boiled more down into the witch’s favorite crab juice, she tried to distract the children with funny stories of silly fairies and fat toad-like creatures who ate flies and belched. She also told them the story of Elefrog, who was a darling little sweet fairy girl, until she opened her mouth and released one of her thunderous croaks which could silence the forest. While she told her tales, they watched Maleficent scrub the witch’s socks and underwear, which they thought was hilarious, because everybody knew that scrubbing nasty underwear was the worst job ever! Aurora was amazed that the witch was not even slightly embarrassed about the deplorable state of her undergarments; and indeed, laughed louder than the children at the enormous brown and yellow stains on the oversized bloomers. They laughed again when the fairy was tasked with scrubbing out the children’s clothes and stained underwear. Their long woolen undergarments, which they had worn for months straight in the cold of winter and the unpredictableness of early spring, were soaked through with repeated sweat and urine stains, and the smells that wafted up from them were almost as bad as from the witch’s million-year old socks.  
“If I might,” Aurora asked the witch, “Inquire where the horses go? Is there any chance of us borrowing one for our trips to the ocean?”  
“Absolutely not,” the witch responded. “The yellow one is my Day, the red one my Rising Sun, the black mare is my Night. The others also have tasks to which they have been assigned. They cannot spare any time to assist you with your chores. You will have to do them yourself.” Aurora sighed, but she had the witch’s answer, and that was that.   
And so the days went by, with the children becoming ever fatter and slower while the witch ate eggs and drank crab juice, and they enjoyed making the fairy do every horrible chore they could think of, while giving her crab shells to eat and a bed of ashes to sleep in. Aurora did everything she could to alleviate the punishments, and to heal the fairy’s feet, while trying not to dislike the children for the mean-spirited tasks they came up with. Aside from becoming fatter, they were becoming more cruel and unkind, competing with each other and the witch to see who could come up with funnier, more demeaning tasks for the fairy to perform. Nor, Aurora noted, was anything ever asked of them. The witch never told them to do any chores, or indeed, move around at all, only to eat, eat, eat; and to enjoy tormenting the wicked fairy. Because after all, the witch would constantly remind them, she deserved it. Nor, Aurora realized, was it a good time to show Maleficent the witch’s magic gift. It was definitely wiser to wait until the horridly behaved children were gone, indeed, long absent, before bringing up the potential of their own children. And Aurora did think about what they would be like. Certainly, here at the hut would be a poor time to have a baby, but afterward… She often smiled while she worked, starting to think and plan of what life might be like once their servitude to the witch was completed, and a distant memory. She also enjoyed their daily trips to the ocean, and she wondered when, if ever, she might return.  
After several months, the witch could bear the pain of pretending to be jolly and the sight of the fat, juicy children no longer and decided to eat them. Rubbing her grubby hands together, she began greedily dreaming about bacon to go with the eggs, roasts, and a hearty stew. She told Maleficent and Aurora to light a hot fire in the oven, the time had come to eat the little piggies. The witch cackled, there were two of them, and so enough for all the treats she had in mind. Maleficent did so gladly; she was tired of the children and being beaten with candy canes while the gluttonous little beasts gorged themselves. She wasn’t particularly looking forward to the sort of gruesome scene as the dwarf’s end had been, but nor was she going to quarrel with the witch over the fate of the bloated, cruel children. On another level, she was worried about herself. The witch was not fond of her, and the thought was always in the back of her mind that the old hag might just give in to the temptation to feast upon fairy meat. Aurora wondered what to do. She had tried to like the children and surreptitiously encourage them to escape, while also trying to alleviate the suffering of her lover.   
But now, the witch was all excited about eating the children, and rendering their extra fat into an exceptionally fine lard. She had big plans, both for the epic fantasy feast that night, and for the candles and Fat Boy sauces she was going to enjoy later on. Cackling and rubbing her hands together, she told Aurora to prepare some good herbs and spices, and whacking Maleficent with her staff, enchanted to look like a tasty candy cane, ordered her to get the fires hotter, both in the oven and under the cauldron. “We need a good hot fire, you lazy fairy! Good eating tonight!” Then she hopped into her magic cauldron and flew away. For what, they could only guess.  
Once free from the witch’s constant supervision, Maleficent worked far slower. Aurora however was worried for the children. They were rude and uncouth, but they didn’t deserve to be eaten by the witch. Throwing some onions into the giant boiling cauldron, she wondered what would be the best way to save them without angering the witch. Her blessing of being beloved by all had affected the old hag a little; rather like marinating a brick. The Yaga’s heart was like a chunky old brick, and left in the mixture of blessing and hope hadn’t exactly absorbed anything, and when she was gone, the brick would go back to being exactly the same, but for the time being, it was coated in a little bit of goodness. That at least was enough to extract some pleasant conversation and behavior from the witch, and to make Aurora’s own life more secure. She was almost certain that the witch wouldn’t eat her. A sugar-coated brick remained a brick, however, and no such kindness or generosity extended towards Maleficent, who received even more whacks with the old hag’s staff when any trickles of belovedness became too unpleasant and offensive for the witch. Taunting the fairy into tears also alleviated those feelings nicely, as well. Unfortunately for the children, they were only food. Aurora had come to understand that for an ancient, wild earth goddess, food was food. Whether she was eating slugs rolled around in dirt or deer, pork, bear, crabs, eggs, dwarf, fairy or children, they were all food, and she had her favorites of what tasted best. As the witch would say, it all made a turd. Understanding and agreement were not the same things, however, and so while she strove daily to prevent the witch from finding any reason to eat her fairy love, she was at a loss for how to stop her from enjoying her fine feast that evening. Finally, she decided to simply tell them.  
“Run away,” she said to the two obese children lounging around on enchanted hay bales that appeared to be fluffy pillows. “The witch means to eat you! That’s why she’s been fattening you up, and why the ovens and the cauldron are heating! Quickly, run away before she returns!”  
The children liked Aurora, she told them funny stories and made them peppermint tea to help soothe their tummies, which acted up a lot due to their diet of sugar-puff enchanted bones and turds. They also liked what they perceived as the kindly old baker woman who made the cakes, pastries, and delights they enjoyed so much. The only person they didn’t like was the wicked fairy who never said a word, and just looked sullen and unhappy all the time. Their slow minds processed the information, and they looked at each other and grunted.   
“Go where?” the boy asked.   
“That way leads to the ocean,” Aurora told them. “Go there and eat crabs and clams. Wait until someone from your village arrives, which they surely will eventually, and go with them. The answers to your troubles were simple all along.”   
Hansel and Gretel thought about that, and imagined digging for clams themselves and sleeping in a homemade shelter, instead of being fed treats on fluffy pillows. They looked at each other, and with a series of looks and grunts that substituted for conversation, they agreed that something should be done.   
“Good!” Aurora said, “You must leave as quickly as possible!” She watched as the children dragged themselves up off of the pillows and groaned. “I will give you some blankets, a tinderbox, and some fresh water. Then you’ll be fine until someone finds you.” She went inside and found two worn old blankets, probably left over from the witch’s feasting on some peasants, a plain tinderbox, and a bladder of water. This should start them off, she thought, walking back out of the hut, still enchanted to look like a gingerbread house. The children had indeed gotten up, but instead of readying to leave, they were standing closer to the boiling cauldron where Aurora had been tossing in onions for Children Stew, and Maleficent was putting more wood on the fire. She realized what was going to happen a second before it did, and rushed forward, dropping what she was carrying, as the children both pushed together, sending the surprised fairy toppling over into the fire. She caught herself only by grabbing a hold of the edge of the boiling cauldron, and then Aurora seized her and pulled her back. There were burns on her hands, and looking around for cold water, Aurora put her hands in a big metal crab soaking bucket, which was still full of cold water and crabs. She turned angrily to the children, “Get out of here!”  
They stared at her dumbly, and she realized that they were even less bright than she had thought. She had said witch, and to them that meant the dark fairy, when she should have specified old baker woman. They had apparently decided that the wicked fairy must have gotten hungry eating nothing but crab shells, and decided to solve the problem in the simplest way possible; by just shoving her into the fire. Frustrated with herself and the stupid children, Aurora gave them the supplies and ordered them to leave. They were shocked that she was angry, and even more surprised that she made them go. Then she sat down next to Maleficent, who was still sitting there silently with her hands in the bucket. Looking at the marks, which were clearly burns from gripping the edge of the cauldron, she realized that this could work for them. “When the witch returns, I’m going to tell her that the children pushed you into the fire, and then ran away because they realized that they were about to be eaten. I was too busy rescuing you to stop them.”  
Maleficent gave her a doubtful look. Those children moved at the speed of slugs, and thought even slower. Then again, she realized, who was sitting there with her burnt hands in a bucket from underestimating the actions of slugs? Aurora smiled and kissed her, touching her burnt-smelling hair. The ends were singed, and had that acrid smell. There were burn marks on her ragged dress, but that didn’t matter much. It couldn’t look worse than it already did. Her hands hurt, though, even soothing the burns with cold water. She was lucky, she thought, that Aurora had pulled her out of the fire as quickly as she had, before her hands became any more scorched, or she would have had to put one foot in the blazing fire in order to push herself out. She kissed Aurora back, and felt the gentle, soothing touch of her lover’s hands on her face and hair. Then Aurora put her arms around her, and just held her without speaking, eyes closed, cheek to cheek. Ever so slowly, they started swaying, in a timeless rhythm with the wind. Both were thinking how lucky they were to have the other.  
When the witch returned, she leapt out of her flying cauldron, and saw her servants not working, but kneeling and swaying together by a bucket, like they were praying to some lowly god. She ran up to the stew pot, expecting to see something. There was nothing boiling in there but onions. Checking the ovens, she was equally disappointed. The children clearly weren’t lounging on their pillows, ready to be butchered. “Where are they?” the witch demanded.  
Aurora opened her eyes and saw the witch standing there, looking angry. “While I was in the cottage, they snuck up on her and pushed her into the fire. Then they escaped, and I had to pull Maleficent out of the fire.”   
The witch was outraged, and Aurora pulled one of the fairy’s burnt hands out of the cold water, and showed her the blistered red skin. “But why did you let my dinner get away?” the witch howled. “Dinner is more important than pampering her!”   
“But she could have been badly hurt or killed,” Aurora answered, making sure to stay between the witch and the fairy. “I’m holding her because I’m relieved and overjoyed that she’s still alive.”  
The witch was so angry she could only stutter. Then finding her words again, she shouted, “That lazy thing burnt her hands so she has an excuse to not work! And worst of all, she prevented you from getting anything done, either!”  
“They pushed her from behind! That’s why she fell into the fire!”  
“Not enough to go into the pot and just enough to get nothing done,” the witch snapped. “Now get up, put some honey on her hands and bind them up. Then get back to work. And don’t waste a drop of it, either!”   
The moment of closeness clearly ruined, Aurora did as she was told. Taking a jar of honey from the cottage and some bandages, she started smearing some on the fairy’s burnt palms, when the witch howled, “That’s too much! I said don’t waste it! She needs to be able to work, not savor the experience of touching your breasts while she licks and kisses!” Aurora was a little startled, but tried to use a minimal amount of the honey, and then carefully wrapped the fairy’s hands. The witch supervised them, and her gingerbread house trap no longer needed, she let the enchantment fade away, and then told Aurora to boil up the rest of the crabs, all the while bemoaning being cheated out of a good dinner by the ineptitude of her servants.   
That night, finally having their bear and sheepskin nest back, Aurora took her lover into her arms, and kissed her gently. “I’m still so glad you’re not hurt any worse,” she whispered. “I love you, Maleficent…”  
“Oh, no you don’t!” the witch hollered, “None of that! That clumsy fairy cost me my dinner and got out of working! No way is she getting a night of pleasures out of it! Stop that now or I’ll send her back to sleep in the ashes!”  
Aurora sighed, and looking over at Maleficent, who was laughing silently to herself, Aurora felt quite annoyed. For the several months that the children had been there, she and Maleficent had been sleeping on the hard floor, and while they could hold each other, their lovemaking had been severely curtailed. If they wanted to enjoy each other, they had to do it at the seashore, while gathering crabs. Aurora felt like she hadn’t done anything to deserve being denied the simple joy of her lover’s arms, or the rest of her body, for that matter. If anything, she felt like she had saved three lives today, and didn’t appreciate being berated and shouted at. What had she done to deserve any of this? A little more than three years of the awful witch left to go, she reminded herself, and making a frustrated noise in her throat, lay down quietly next to Maleficent.  
The next morning, they were awakened by the witch’s usual whacking, and Aurora got up to make the witch’s breakfast, clean up, and then to reapply the honey and rewrap the bandages on Maleficent’s burned hands. She was surprised when she unwrapped the cloth strips to discover that the burns were much improved. The fairy smiled at her in knowing appreciation, and Aurora wondered if the amazing healing was from the honey, fairy abilities, or a combination of both. She gently ran a honeyed finger over the healing burn on one hand, and admired how much it had been soothed. Looking into Maleficent’s eyes, she knew that it was both, and how much they loved each other. They shared a soul, and a special closeness that would bind them together forever. With a moment’s inspiration, she wondered if it would have the same effect on her feet, and decided to try. Gently she used it to coat the wounds, and covering them with bandages, hoped for the best. Aurora tasted the honey, and then touched her finger to her lover’s lips. Ever so delicately, the fairy accepted it, the pressure on her lower lip, and the sensual licking of the delicious, honey coated finger.   
“I said don’t waste it!” the witch shouted.  
“I don’t think we have the same definition of wasting,” Aurora called back to her.  
“That lazy fairy gets teat-milk, she’s not getting honey, too! Now put it away and get to work!”  
“She couldn’t live just on crab shells!” Aurora answered, wrapping the fairy’s hand back up.   
“How is it that you still don’t see that wicked, miserable, selfish creature for what it is?” the witch asked.   
“What do you mean?” Aurora asked.  
“You suckle a snake! How many people would be alive today if it weren’t for her, including your own parents?”  
Aurora asked, “But what difference that would make to you? You eat people, so why would you care who lived or died?”  
“Does a farmer slaughter his chickens or sheep indiscriminately? No, he culls his flocks, and kills the predators that would harm his animals. It is the same.”  
“Perhaps,” Aurora answered, tucking the last bit of bandage in at the wrist, “But I love her.”  
“That’s not very smart,” the witch teased.  
“Perhaps,” Aurora agreed, careful not to defy the witch and break any of her rules. “But I love whom I love.” She gently took the fairy’s other hand and began wrapping. She looked into Maleficent’s eyes, and said to the witch, “And I love her very, very much.”  
“Perhaps,” mused the witch, who actively supervised the bandaging, so that Aurora did not waste any more honey by feeding it to the fairy. “Now,” she announced, “Back to work!” She rattled off a list of chores, and then said, “I’m tired of crab juice. Pack up, for tomorrow we move.”  
Moving again, Aurora thought…


	30. The She-Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The red haired she-devil tries to ruin Aurora and Maleficent's relationship.

Chapter 30  
The She-Devil

Sitting at the spinning wheel was going as it ever had; mostly unending tedium with occasional jolts of sadness or regret. The witch left every morning after eating her nasty slug-breakfast and then Aurora would leave on whatever chore the witch had assigned her for the day. Maleficent noticed that the princess was not unhappy, despite the work she was assigned, and their generally poor living conditions. The blessing of never being blue was tempering out of youthful joy, silliness and exuberance into practicality and considered optimism, which was much more useful. Of course, the princess herself was far more useful. She had learned all manner of practical skills, and most importantly, she was becoming a healer, and everyone had a use for that. Yet, however the princess might try to heal the fairy’s feet, they remained ominously dead-looking. Aurora was frustrated by the constant failure of her spells and herbal cures, wondering whatever could be the cause of it. She didn’t give up, but she was mightily perplexed. The fairy knew the true cause of it, and was not at all surprised when out of the bag she pulled a shiny, coppery red hair. She threw it down as though it were a loathsome, venomous insect. One person she had certainly never wronged was Adrastia! Then she chided herself for thinking the devil’s name. She looked around, expecting to see her appear and start laughing at her, seated there as she was with tattered, torn wings and broken ankles. All right, she thought, just appear Adrastia, and let’s get this over with. Have your laugh and then the terms of your curse are fulfilled. Then maybe Aurora’s healing spells will work properly. But the she-devil didn’t appear, which was more frustrating than if she had. So she picked up the hair, and winding it firmly in some black sheep’s wool, set it aside.  
Aurora didn’t mind her chores. It was only work, after all, and it made the days go by. Some chores weren’t even disagreeable at all. Fishing, berry picking, and collecting eggs were actually fun, as was hunting mushrooms in the forest. After all, Aurora laughed to herself, those mushrooms couldn’t exactly get away from her very fast, however slowly she might stalk them. She was delighted indeed to discover a clearing in the forest where the tasty morels and chanterelles grew. Gathering up a fair amount of them in her basket, but not depleting the woodland groves, she smiled to herself and prepared to walk back to the witch’s hut. She was gathering some fresh herbs to cook up with the chanterelles as she walked back to the cottage. Aurora quite liked this new area they were in. There were well-kept roads and trails she could follow that made it easy to retrace her steps and avoid getting lost. Wildflowers grew along the paths as well, which made walking through the woods a joy, and meant that it was also much easier to find her way by moonlight if she accidentally wandered too far away or lost track of time. The delicate little white and yellow blossoms growing there at the edges of the trails and roads illuminated the sides, and made it easy to see. Delightfully fragrant tiny purple flowers that were easier to see in the daylight, and smelled heavenly were mixed in with the others. Having seen Elven workmanship before, she was fairly certain what she was looking at. There was an abundance of wildlife in this exquisitely beautiful new place, and she was getting acquainted with some of the local residents, as well. Lovely wood nymphs would stare at her shyly from behind their trees, and strange little froglike men would hop past from stream to pond. She was quiet, and decided to let the creatures approach her first. There was also a tribe of wild elves living in the area, and they were so silent and reclusive that Aurora almost never caught sight of them, although she frequently sensed that they were there. She thought they must like her, however, because the few times she had seen them they had smiled and nodded at her before they vanished. Perhaps they noticed her appreciation of their handiwork, and the way that she always respected the forest by never taking all of anything. They seemed to keep to their own area however, and steered clear of the witch’s hut. That’s wise, Aurora thought. Given the choice, she would have smartly avoided the crazy hovel with the chicken legs. Usually, the days were charming and quiet, and she returned to the hut with baskets full of herbs, berries, mushrooms, nuts, and whatever else she might have found that day. She often brought back the most delightfully scented flowers as well, to brighten up the grim existence of her fairy lover, who was bound to the spinning wheel day after day, atoning for past wrongs that Aurora had long since put behind them. The witch often wagged her finger at Aurora for that, but the princess always responded with an open heart and gesture of hope.   
“What if she betrays you?” the witch had inquired.  
“Then I will be horribly hurt and disappointed. I will grieve and mourn how much we loved each other, and what might have been. Assuming I’m still alive, after that, I will go on.”  
“And you’re willing to put all of that soul destiny and heart’s hope on a fey creature?”  
“I love whom I love,” Aurora always answered. Fey creature or no, she did love Maleficent, and they enjoyed each other more when the witch wasn’t saying things like that. But it wasn’t Aurora’s humanity or Maleficent’s fey heritage that defined their relationship, they loved one another irrespective of it. Aurora laughed and parried the witch’s jokes and innuendos with good humor, until the witch was satisfied that both their love was mutual and that Aurora would survive, and indeed go on to prosper, if the fairy abandoned her. “But she won’t,” Aurora had told the witch one night when Maleficent was asleep, and the princess was sharpening the silver axe. “You know that, so why do you keep joking about it? I could find someone else easily, if that was what I really wanted. But she couldn’t. She would go hide in the trees and mourn for decades, maybe even centuries, making black magic. So what’s the point of poking at us?”  
“Aye, you’re quite perceptive,” the old witch had admitted, gazing at her over the smoke from her pipe. “So is the question do I entrust you to her, or her to you?”  
“Have I been trustworthy so far?” Aurora had asked.  
“Absolutely,” the witch had agreed. There was never a moment when the witch had sent Aurora out into the forest to gather food or firewood when she doubted that she would return. Nor did she ever worry about foolish destruction or incompetence. “Perhaps you may win your fairy wife at the end of the seven years.” Aurora had laughed, clapped, jumped, and giggled in joy. Then the old hag had shook her head and said, “It couldn’t have been a simple tree spirit, or wood elf, eh? Had to be the emotionally damaged dark fairy, didn’t it? Young lady, the work you’ve been doing was bidding on a much bigger job!” But Aurora had laughed, not daunted in the slightest.   
“I love her,” Aurora had told the witch. “I realize that the horns, wings, and odd manners would scare most people, but it doesn’t me. I know she’s unstable, and that I will get hurt at lots of unforeseen moments, but I’m willing to accept the risk. It’s worth it. She’s beautiful, magical, and most importantly, she loves me back.”  
The old witch had sighed, “Who am I to doubt love? It dies when you overwater it, and springs forth from the most unexpected, dry, rocky outcroppings.”  
“Thank you, by the way, for everything you’ve done for us. I was scared at first, but now I understand.”  
“Quiet down, lest I turn you into a maple tree, to drip sap forever!” the witch snapped, pretending to be angry and stifling a laugh by taking a deep puff off of her old pipe. Dark, swirling gray and brownish-blue smoke rings floated above her.  
Aurora had laughed. She would have been just as happy as a maple tree, learning that planty goodness that all trees embodied for several hundred years, and the witch knew it. “I ain’t gonna argue with you anymore,” the witch sighed. “I ain’t your challenge. It’s her backlog of evil you’ve got to contend with.” Then their lives had become surprisingly smooth and routine, with a fairly predictable schedule of chores and delights. Aurora had every intention of returning back to the witch’s cottage by suppertime every day, cooking up a tasty meal, and with perhaps some ale or honey mead, settling down for the evening, holding the beautiful Maleficent in her arms. Then she would wake up the next morning, to do it all again, and again. She would fish by the river, gather berries, mushrooms and nuts. The wild elves and the tree sprites would watch her, and occasionally venture out to shyly wave hello. All told, she thought often, she was almost somewhat happy.  
So she was rather surprised one evening when returning to the cottage, she heard a woman’s voice crying out for help. She veered off the narrow path a ways, towards the main throughfare where horses and wagons might go, and there at the crossroads, was a winged, horned, red haired woman with some of the wild elves’ arrows lodged in her wings and several cuts from their swords on her leg. She was screaming and crying, and so Aurora asked if she could help.  
“I thought no one would ever come!” the woman answered. “Please help me! I cannot stand or fly!”  
“What are you?” the princess asked curiously and cautiously.  
“Who am I,” the woman answered reproachfully, and Aurora suddenly felt quite rude. “I am the Princess Adrastia, daughter of the ancient earth and fire fairy Lilith and the arch devil Asmodeus, ruler over the great realm of Stygia, Ninth Layer of the Abyss. Who are you?”  
Aurora didn’t understand much of that lengthy diatribe, but having learned not to give away her identity and address after their misadventure with the evil dwarf Rumpelstiltskin, she answered cheerfully, “One of Nature’s more peaceful and contented creatures. But I am a healer, so I will happily help you.”  
“Oh, thank you!” Adrastia cried. But when Aurora put down her basket of food and proceeded to cast her healing spell of blessing, the woman shrieked as though she was being set on fire, and the spell did more harm than good, causing an arrow wound to become a large, gaping hole, which began spilling thick yellow-orange blood. Adrastia’s screaming echoed off the forest floor and through the treetops, terrifying all woodland creatures into fleeing or silence.  
Aurora was shocked, “I’m so sorry! That’s never happened before! I’m sorry!” But she could hardly hear herself over the creature’s shrieking. “Oh, I didn’t mean for that to happen!” She took a piece of cloth from the food basket, dumped the mushrooms in with the berries, and tried to wrap the woman’s enormous wound. Tying it off, she felt the blood unexpectedly burning her hands. “Ouch!” she exclaimed, trying to wipe it off onto some leaves. Over the wailing, she said, “If you’ll please stop screaming, I can take you back to our hut for the evening, and hopefully the witch will know why my healing spell went so horribly wrong.” The woman nodded, and Aurora picked her up, along with the basket, which she slung over her arm, hoping the contents wouldn’t spill out. With Adrastia’s thrashing, however, she suspected that might happen once or twice anyway. She was rather annoyed however, when most of their supper was cast aside due to the creature’s howling, flailing and kicking around. She nearly tripped several times from the woman’s tail snapping around her ankles. “My goodness!” the princess exclaimed in exasperation, “What a fuss you’re making!”   
“But I’m injured!” Adrastia wailed, kicking and screaming. “Injured! Wounded! Undone!”  
Aurora politely held her tongue, but she had become quite used to the dark fairy’s silent stoicism, which was much more pleasant than being hit and shrieked at by someone she was trying to help. But she was already annoyed with Adrastia by the time they reached the hut.   
“What is that awful place?” Adrastia exclaimed, looking at the cottage.  
“The home of a very powerful witch,” Aurora explained, setting her down and opening the door. The hut obligingly squatted down on its big yellow chicken legs, and the door stretched itself a little wider so she could carry Adrastia through the entrance. She set the wailing red-haired woman on the fur nest she shared with her lovely fairy friend, who was seated there at the spinning wheel, watching the going’s on with interest.   
Maleficent was not surprised to see Adrastia, not after having found the red hair several days previously, but she was curious about what the she-devil was trying to do. And who shot her? Not that they didn’t have a good reason, she was certain, but it was still important to discover who she had angered enough to shoot at her. She raised an eyebrow at Aurora, who was becoming frustrated with trying to reason with the devil, who was still screaming.  
“I don’t know what happened!” Aurora exclaimed. “I think the wild elves shot her, and then I found her and tried to use one of my blessing spells to heal her, and that made it worse!”   
Maleficent started laughing, and it was everything she could do not to make a sound while she did it. So Aurora had tried to bless a devil, she laughed, feeling tears start to form in her eyes, she was laughing so hard. Not just any devil, either, but one cursed to turn into her natural form should she tell a lie. And of course her blessing had made the wound worse! She regained control of herself however, at the horrified expression on Aurora’s face.  
“Maleficent!” Aurora said, “That’s not funny at all!”  
Not from Aurora’s current perspective, she thought, stifling more laughter. So she just shook her head and returned to her spinning. It’s not like Aurora would have heard her words over Adrastia’s weeping and complaining anyway, even if she could have spoken.   
“No, it isn’t funny at all!” Adrastia cried. “But that wicked fairy Maleficent would think so, wouldn’t she? We’ve been friends since before you were born, and when I get hurt, she now sits there and laughs! She should be ashamed of herself, but of course she isn’t!” Adrastia sobbed.  
Maleficent put down her spinning, and glared at her. That had been an egregious stretching of the truth, but not an outright lie. Then she realized something horrible; her curse had only made Adrastia a much more skilled liar. The sooner they lifted their curses from each other, the better for all concerned.  
Aurora apologized for everything, and offered one of her herbal poultices. When Adrastia saw the watery green mass coming towards her, she began shrieking anew. “No, no, no!” she howled, “No more! Cruel thing, cease your attacks! You’re hurting me!”  
“I don’t understand,” Aurora said, ready to cry. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go at all. Her touch was supposed to soothe, the holy herbs bring relief, and her blessed energy surges to bring healing and bliss, not grave wounds and pain. “What am I doing wrong?” she asked, and then wept. She sat down and worried that her greatest talent had gone away. First she couldn’t completely heal the fairy’s feet, and now her touch was actively making things worse. A baneful skill was not what she wanted at all! Had she done something horribly wrong? She felt Maleficent’s hand on her shoulder, and continued to sob as her dear fairy friend tried to kiss away the tears. She was so upset that she didn’t notice Adrastia’s smile, and her open wound stop bleeding. All she noticed was the brief ceasing of their guest’s howling, and the fairy’s silent attempt to soothe Aurora’s own upset. Maleficent noticed it, however, and wasn’t at all surprised that the princess’ pain and self-doubt brought the she-devil soothing and joy. She glared at her, and suppressed an urge to slap that smirk right off Adrastia’s face. Instead she concentrated upon trying to make Aurora feel better, and wished that she could speak. So she kissed her face, and held her beloved Aurora while she cried and wondered what was wrong. Looking over at the she-devil, Maleficent noticed that her own frustration had also brought Adrastia healing satisfaction, but not nearly as much as watching the fairy walk painfully across the floor to help Aurora had. Oh, Adrastia could barely control her smug enjoyment of that sight, and while she didn’t laugh, she did flick her forked tongue around to savor the pain in the air while breathing deeply. “Hello, my old friend,” Adrastia smiled.  
Maleficent was sorely tempted to say something, but didn’t. She just held Aurora until the witch returned, with a basket full of nasty goodies. The witch looked over at them and laughed. “I was going to show you my dragon tooth, but it seems as though you’ve got the catch of the day,” the witch cackled. Then she observed Aurora and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”  
Through her sobs Aurora explained what had happened to her in the forest, and how she had brought the stranger into the witch’s hut. Then she apologized for not asking first, and then rambled for a minute, before weeping that she feared that she had lost her holy healing touch.  
Then the witch burst into laughter, and looking at her, Maleficent couldn’t help but smile. “Young lady,” the old hag chuckled, “There’s nothing wrong with you! And it’s truly funny that you tried to bless a devil! There aren’t many ways to harm or kill one, but a holy touch is one of the classic methods to immobilize and wound an evil creature like that from the Abyss! So now you know.”  
Aurora stopped crying, “So it’s nothing I did wrong?”  
“Depends upon which way you look at it I suppose, but you still have your healing powers, if that’s what you’re worried about,” the hag laughed, starting to unpack her basket.   
Wiping away her tears, Aurora said, “I suppose that’s a relief. But how would I heal her, if I did want to?”  
“In case you didn’t notice, she enjoyed your crying so much that she’s quite a bit improved,” the witch pointed out. “That’s how.”  
“Oh,” Aurora said, considering the implications of this as she wiped the hair out of her face, and dried her tears. “That’s not the way things are supposed to be. Love and caring and heartfelt giving are supposed to heal.”  
“Well, not on demons and devils, it won’t. Your magic will work just fine on good or neutral creatures,” the witch reminded her. “That’s what you wanted in the first place, wasn’t it?”  
“Well, yes, of course,” Aurora agreed.   
“So, no harm truly done,” the witch said. “Now, where’s my dinner?”  
“Unfortunately, Adrastia knocked it all out of the basket on the way back,” Aurora explained. “She was flailing around so much, and I was so worried and confused, that the nuts, berries, herbs and mushrooms were scattered along the road.”  
“What!” the witch shouted, glaring at Adrastia but talking to the princess. “Then fix something up!”  
“Oh, you’re not going to eat her, are you?” Aurora cried in distress.  
“Awful spicy,” the witch considered. “How long do you want me to fart pure fire?”  
“Not at all, if you please,” Aurora answered.  
“Then get up and cook me something!” the witch barked. “I don’t want rat soup, either!” She went back to her basket, grumbling to herself as she removed the day’s treasures. Aurora got up and went outside, thinking that a chicken might be the quickest solution. Maleficent sat there and watched the witch unpack her treasures, while glaring at Adrastia, who stared balefully back at her. The witch leaned out the window and called to Aurora, “And save the chicken blood for our guest!”   
“Was that what I just thought it was?” Adrastia clarified. “Does the old woman eat people? Or was that a joke?”  
It’s exactly what it sounded like, and yes she does eat people, Maleficent glared at her. Read that thought if you will!  
“Would you have let her?” Adrastia demanded of Maleficent.  
Broken ankles, rid of Adrastia forever… broken ankles, or rid of Adrastia… Broken ankles forever, or rid of Adrastia forever…  
“You wicked fairy!” Adrastia screamed, “You’d let her eat me if you weren’t counting on me lifting my curse! And after all the years we’ve been friends! Without me, you never would have eaten the etheric flame and learned fire magic! Some thank you, Maleficent!”  
It wasn’t technically a lie, but it certainly wasn’t the whole truth, either. Remove your curse from me, the fairy thought.  
“After you remove yours from me! What a wretched, cruel thing to do, to like making me look ugly! You enjoy it, too, don’t you?”  
Maleficent smiled. Does it ruin your life so much? Perhaps less lying would render it less troublesome.  
“Just answer me, you stony, uptight fairy! Don’t make me read your mind!” Adrastia shouted, “What’s wrong with you?”  
The witch had heard about enough of the she-devil’s complaining and accusations. “There’s rules in this house,” she said, “First, no defiance. Everyone does what I say, and they’d best do it quick or I might decide to throw them in the pot for supper. Second, no shouting, screaming, or shrieking. No cursing, either! If you want to stay here and recuperate as Aurora’s guest, then you behave. You two will have all day tomorrow to sort out your problems while the princess and I are out. But I like peace and quiet. I don’t mind jokes or the princess’ singing, but people who irritate me go into the pot. Got that?”  
“Well, yes,” Adrastia answered, a little taken aback by the witch’s directness and wondering if that threat about the stew pot was real. Then she changed her tone entirely, “We have never been formally introduced. I am Princess Adrastia of the Ninth Plane…”  
“I know who you are,” the witch interrupted. “I don’t need the trumpets and banners. We’re all on a first name basis here, and if you think real hard, you’ll figure out who I am. In the meantime, Aurora has been calling me Grandmother, which I find acceptable.”  
“But my father is Asmodeus, king of the…”  
“Girl, what care do you think I have for that? If I eat you, and he later comes looking, I’ll eat him, too. Gonna be one mighty big bowl of spicy beans, that, but another one will come along right quick and take his place as king. Nobody but you cares.”  
Adrastia was shocked and extremely offended. No one talked to the Princess of the Abyss that way, no one, especially not some hideous old hag. In her most diffident tone she began, “If you…”  
Maleficent reached over and slapped her, ending the threatening litany she had been about to deliver. Don’t! The fairy held her finger up in front of Adrastia’s mouth. She sent her the mental image of the witch throwing Rumpelstiltskin into the pot, with the warning to be silent, she was very close to being next. The witch did not tolerate arrogant arguing.  
“Oh, you do care!” Adrastia exclaimed, giving her a big hug, “My beautiful, thin, fairy friend! You’re still so skinny!” She pet Maleficent’s hair, and squeezed her tightly, as the fairy stiffened and wished she could scream and run away. I only helped you so that you can lift your curse upon me, she thought, pulling away. “Don’t be like that,” Adrastia laughed, “Do you still love me?” Maleficent pushed back, and the witch interrupted.  
“Are you still sitting there?” the old wild hag said to Maleficent. “It ain’t supper time yet. Get back over to that spinning wheel and get to work!” Then she turned to Adrastia, “And you, if you’re well enough to give speeches and stand on pomp and circumstance, get over there and help her. If you’re too wounded to work, then lay down and be silent!” The fairy took her staff and pulled herself to her feet, feeling the surge of savory enjoyment from Adrastia at watching her, and made her way back to the spinning wheel. Sitting down, she looked back at the she-devil, who was smiling at her in delight, her forked tongue licking her lips in a quasi-sexual satisfaction at watching Maleficent’s discomfort. The fairy looked back down into the bag, averting her eyes, but she heard the sighs and orgasmic-like noises of the she-devil healing herself with the discomfort of her former friend.   
So Maleficent held up the red hair where Adrastia could see it, and glared at her. She knew she had the she-devil’s full attention. Then she reached down into the bag, and pulled out some dog fur. Smiling, she began to twist it together with the long red hair. Realizing what was happening, Adrastia sat up in shock and horror. “You stop that immediately, Maleficent!” But the fairy just smiled, and wrapped another dog hair around the first, starting to form a braid. “I said put that down, Maleficent!” Adrastia ordered her.  
“And I told you to be silent!” the witch snapped. “One more noise from you and Aurora can hold off on the chicken, because I’ll be eating red hot devil tonight!”  
Adrastia was stunned and offended. How dare they treat her this way? She was Princess Adrastia of the Ninth Plane of the Abyss, and her parents were going to hear about this. Oh, yes, after she tricked or goaded Maleficent into lifting this ghastly curse, she was going to go straight home, and take that impudent dark fairy with her. Her parents could deal with the disgusting hag, putting whatever end to her they saw fit. Perhaps she could burn in some fire pit somewhere, after apologizing to Adrastia for her utter disrespect and rudeness. Imagine, treating a princess that way! She closed her eyes and indulged in the fantasy, hoping Maleficent could overhear it. Reading the fairy’s mind was easier when looking into her eyes, but broadcasting her own thoughts was almost as reliable. She didn’t think that the blond outside killing chickens was telepathic, but the old witch might be. Oh, well, she thought, let the nasty hag overhear them! Quite loudly, she thought about her fine palaces and rooms. There was the smaller castle she kept all to herself at her parents’ home, and then there was her private suite of rooms in the grand palace she shared with her husband. That would be the place to take Maleficent first, she smiled to herself. She would put a golden collar around her neck, and attach to it a long, linked chain. As the newest household slave, she would have to be trained, and Adrastia was going to enjoy every moment of it. Naked, or dressed in mismatched silken rags, the fairy would have to walk ten steps ahead of her, everywhere they went. Let the entire palace admire her beautiful new possession, and envy her because of it. She would have Maleficent dress her in the finest gowns, and adorn her hair with jewels, while the fairy herself remained so obviously a slave in her rags and golden chain. When Adrastia chose to rest, she would tie her pretty new toy to the foot of their great brass bed, unless she wanted the fairy for pleasures, or to entertain her husband. That would please her very much, Adrastia thought with a wicked grin. She’d promised him the beautiful fairy Maleficent years ago, as a bargaining chip in their agreements and dalliances. She wanted the good-looking archer, and several handsome devils, and to placate Mammon, would give him a lovely plaything to keep him amused. But now those other interests were gone, and so she was back together with her husband, and delaying would work wonderfully to her advantage; Adrastia would be there to enjoy everything that happened instead of off smoking elf-weed with the dim-witted archer. Of course, he wouldn’t want to touch her until she had lost that terrifying ability to make water from her eyes, but like the other slaves, that would vanish away quickly enough. Then they could play with her at their whim, without fear of her burning them with her tears. As long as they kept giving her blood, she would stay alive. Making Maleficent beg would be an especial delight, she thought, savoring the imaginary moments. Her most pleasing fantasy was destroyed as the bumbling barbarian healer came banging through the door with a dead chicken that she cheerfully announced was ready for cooking. Ugh, Adrastia thought. Tomorrow, she had to get the fairy to lift her curse. Cautiously, she opened one eye, and looked around. The ugly old witch and the barbarian were admiring a small pot while the blond woman sprinkled some herbs into it and the hag made loud yummy noises. She glanced over at Maleficent, who didn’t look happy at all, and who had put down the work because her hands were shaking. Adrastia smiled to herself. Good, she thought, I’m glad you heard my daydream, you arrogant fairy! She smiled again, feeling her arrow wounds knitting back together at the sight of the fairy’s worried expression and fear. Yes, Adrastia thought, yes, I did plan this out years ago, and if you’d just come with me though the portals back then, it wouldn’t take this long!   
A melancholy feeling of betrayal and chilly isolation had settled over the fairy, along with the fear, making her hands shaky and cold. She remembered quite well the early years of their friendship, and how exasperated Adrastia had been because Maleficent wouldn’t visit her at her palace. She would have tied me up in the Abyss, she thought sadly. We were never friends, she just used and lied to me, constantly, from the very beginning. The lying had been one thing, she mused, but she hadn’t ever really believed that the she-devil had meant any permanent harm to her. In that, she might have been truly mistaken, and narrowly avoided irreparable disaster. The tears that she blinked back gave the she-devil an intense dose of pleasure, and she suddenly felt well enough to sit up, and regard the fairy with a hungry gaze. Maleficent avoided looking at her, and went back to spinning sheep’s wool, trying to blank her mind of anything at all. Aurora and the witch were chopping vegetables, and tasting some beer that the witch had acquired that day on her travels. At the witch’s behest, Aurora also gave the she-devil the chicken blood. Adrastia thanked her, but then looked horrified as the princess poured some beer into the witch’s favorite cup. Was that a fairy skull, she wondered, or a devil’s skull? The witch wouldn’t dare, she thought. She wouldn’t dare!  
“Not as good as the pumpkin ale, though,” the witch decreed.   
“What? Bree’s Best isn’t as good as my homemade pumpkin ale?” Aurora laughed, and brought a wooden cup of beer to the unhappy looking fairy, and gave her a kiss. Maleficent accepted the cup, and although she wouldn’t ordinarily have drunk the stuff, anything was a distraction from the plotting she-devil waiting for her in their bed. “I love you,” Aurora said to her, and helped her with some dull spinning while the chicken cooked.   
After their dinner, they were both disappointed to discover that they would indeed be sharing their bed with the she-devil, who demanded the utmost in personal comfort, insisting that in her wounded condition she required all of the skins underneath her as a pad. In order that she should not become chilled, she also needed several cloaks to be put over her. Aurora tried to make their guest happy, and after placating Adrastia was left with the old peasant blankets they’d slept with when Hansel and Gretel were there. The witch laughed at all of them, and sat down on her bed with the dragon’s tooth, and a full mug of beer. Maleficent chose to be in the middle, the least comfortable spot, but it did lessen the chances of Adrastia waking in the night, and abducting Aurora off to the Abyss. She would rather Adrastia seize her than Aurora, who would be utterly helpless, and probably die quite quickly on the Outer Planes, long before she could be rescued. She felt a slap across her backside, and Adrastia said, “I wouldn’t do that,” in a completely unconvincing but chiding voice. “I’d rather have you anyway.”  
How comforting, Maleficent thought to herself. Just laugh at me, you fiend, and be done with it.  
“Wouldn’t do what?” Aurora asked.  
“Replace her in your heart, and take you away from her,” Adrastia smiled. “I don’t think anyone could. After all, she’s had so many years to make you into what she’s wanted you to be. Oh, I remember following her around, while she spied on you as a baby. Hiding in trees, peeping in windows; ugh, I was so bored! But she made sure that you grew up the way she wanted you to. Then as a child…”  
Maleficent rolled over and slapped Adrastia firmly across the cheek. Aurora gasped, but Adrastia just seized the fairy’s wrist before she could strike again, and said, “What? I’m not lying. I did follow you around, day after boring day, while you wanted to spy on a baby.”  
You’re making it sound like something it wasn’t, Maleficent glared at her.   
Adrastia stared back at her, and smiled wickedly. “There’s no need to waste it,” she said, “Or be so jealous. I’m not, even though I could certainly still be angry about that bucket of water you tried to throw on me, or the other tricks you’ve played.” She ran her tail up and down the fairy’s body, and said to Aurora, “I think it would be lots of fun if we shared her. Don’t you?”  
“Maybe, I don’t know,” Aurora thought aloud. They had never discussed the possibility of a third person. The witch left them alone, and they were quite content with that. What was Adrastia hinting at, anyway?  
“Did she ever show you what she really likes to do with a staff?” Adrastia asked.  
Aurora wondered if this creature was talking about what she thought she was. “We made the current wooden staff because the Baba Yaga told us to, and it has served its purpose.”  
“No,” Adrastia informed her in a conspiratorial tone, “Not that silly wooden thing! The real one, the magical staff with the glowing green ball that she loved to warm up between her hands with energy, and then slowly work up into her…”  
Maleficent clapped her hand over Adrastia’s mouth, and the she-devil wiggled her tail around wildly. She trembled and made crazy sounding whee-hee noises that healed over several of her wounds, she enjoyed seeing the fairy suffer from shame so much.   
“Whatever are the two of you doing?” Aurora asked.   
“Just remembering fun things we used to do,” Adrastia smiled. “I remember overhearing her with that staff!” She was wrestling the fairy’s hands away as she talked, “And I’d hear these little happy noises!” She smiled wickedly, hearing the fairy’s mental message to stop, and ignoring it. “She also had a witchy little dark haired girlfriend for a while,” the she-devil divulged, realizing from the fairy’s horrified expression that she was venturing into sensitive territory. “She would do that woman with the staff, and then they’d trade off. Of course, when they weren’t getting it on, her other slave spent most of her time in the form of a wolf. She was sort of whiny and irritating,” Adrastia recalled, “I didn’t blame Maleficent for tying her up or smacking her. That bird sure did, though, always criticizing everything. He certainly was opinionated for a servant! Whatever happened to him, anyway?” No one felt like telling her that he was still around, so she just kept talking. “But I suppose you don’t need anyone else now that your pretty princess is all grown up. She can take the place of all those other people. And oh, did she ever go to school? I mean, what with you intercepting her letter and everything. How did she ever learn magic? Did she ever learn any magic?”  
“I never went to school,” Aurora answered. “I just learned things as I went along.”  
Adrastia sat up, and looked at Aurora, saying in a conspiratorial tone, “So you never got your letter?”  
“Uh, no,” the princess answered, wondering what the creature was talking about.  
“Oh let me show you!” Adrastia said in mock helpfulness, utterly enjoying the fairy’s furious expression. Don’t you dare, Adrastia! Maleficent thought at her, which only made the she-devil smirk with glee. Then she conjured a magic fire-bubble, and inside of it was the image of a beautiful castle, and hundreds of people walking around or flying on broomsticks. “It’s a very famous school, and it’s where almost every human who wants to learn magic goes! Nobody who wants to learn properly is homeschooled in the woods!” she confided.   
Something clicked in Aurora’s mind, and she remembered back to when she had first awakened from the cursed sleep, and Maleficent had apologized for several other curses. She had wept and said that she was sorry for ruining Aurora’s life, but the princess had not really been interested in the tearful ramblings about letters and minor curses that had been lifted. What she had wanted was the fairy to lie down on the bed with her, and give her another kiss, one a lot longer that resulted in the removal of their clothes. But when she looked at that magical castle, she understood the real implications of what Maleficent had been apologizing for. In a practical sense, she had ruined her life, and by preventing an education, had been isolating her as well. Everything that could have been, if she’d met other people; intelligent, magic using other people. She certainly would have been in a better position to defend herself against fairy magic and curses! But there was nothing to be done about it now, she thought, and Maleficent had already apologized for it. Clearly it wasn’t something the fairy had wanted to dwell on. “What is done is done,” Aurora concluded. Yet, how different things might have been!  
“Oh, I suppose so,” Adrastia answered, her eyes sparkling with enjoyment, especially at the fairy’s unhappy expression. “Besides, she planned to kill you at sixteen, so why bother to pay for an education?”  
Maleficent glared at Adrastia, I hate you, she thought. I’ve never hated you as much as I do right now!   
“If looks could kill,” Adrastia smiled, “But, you can’t! Aurora could have learned a petrifying gaze at school though, which you might have learned all about firsthand…”   
“Let’s just go to sleep,” Aurora suggested, not wanting to talk to Adrastia any longer. She was filled with disturbing thoughts and images that weren’t making her happy at all. Her father hadn’t seen fit to pay for an education for her, either. Instead, she lived in the cottage with the three pixies, who didn’t know anything worth teaching anyone. “The idea is to fall asleep before the Yaga does, and thus avoid her snoring.” So saying, she reminded them both that although the witch was not speaking, she was certainly still awake.   
“What is that odor?” Adrastia asked, her spells all fading away.  
“That is the Yaga’s pipe,” Aurora explained. “She smokes every night. So can we please be quiet and go to sleep?” She lay down and sighed. Her mind filled with thoughts of what she might have learned if she’d gone to a real school. The pixies certainly hadn’t known anything of value that they could have passed on to anyone else. They had only played their days away and enjoyed casting a few good fairy spells; harmless silly enchantments that were probably just games for the students at that magical school. What was real sorcery like, she wondered, thinking of King John’s friend Rudyard, the only wizard she had ever met. Maleficent had taught her to read, about numbers, and simple runes, but she knew just by having seen it that a school was a different thing entirely than reading a book in a tree. If she had gone there, she would have made… friends. It was a profoundly lonely thought, and an infinite number of missed opportunities occurred to her. Fairyland had seemed overwhelmingly wonderful and fantastical when she had first seen it, and she was still glad that she had, but just like seeing White Castle for the first time, she had the sinking feeling that there was a magical equivalent.  
I’m so sorry, Maleficent thought, and touched Aurora’s hair. I did ruin your life, and I am so, so sorry! She hadn’t just ruined the first part, either. Now, for her sake, Aurora was wasting her young adulthood as well, here in the witch’s hut for seven years. There was no way to go back in time and make it right, either. She shed silent tears, and gingerly took the princess’ hand. Touching any more right now might not be wise, she thought, just in case she’s experiencing some true anger right now. I’m sorry, she thought again. If I had it all to do over again, I certainly would change things, but I can’t. She felt Aurora squeeze her hand in return, and sigh. Of course, like she had said, there was nothing to be done about it now. The princess had said that she had forgiven her before, but she hadn’t really known what she was missing. Now she did, and it was quite possible that she might change her mind, especially about wanting to stay with her. Why should she? Why would anyone, after what Aurora had just heard? She cried silently, and tried to ignore the gloating from Adrastia. If she succeeded in ruining their relationship, than that would be a true source of joy for the she-devil.  
“I’m not angry with you,” Aurora whispered in her ear. “What is done cannot be undone, and things have turned out the way they did. Mistakes were made. You tried to tell me about this, years ago, and I didn’t care about it then, I was far too busy hoping you would have sex with me instead. I made my choices as well,” Aurora whispered. She wrapped her arms around her fairy lover, and said, “Don’t cry about it. That only makes the devil smile.”  
“I heard that,” Adrastia snapped.  
But Aurora ignored her, and kissed Maleficent through her tears. “I love you, and I know you love me. If you hadn’t wanted to undo the unkind things you had done, you certainly didn’t have to. And because you were the only one who ever tried to teach me anything, I know the truth. Unlike poor Snow White, who can’t even read a road sign.” Feeling forgiven, Maleficent returned Aurora’s kisses, and holding each other tightly made them feel less cold and uncomfortable, as well, since the she-devil had demanded most of the furs and cloaks. “Besides, if I did have it all to do over, I think I’d still rather have you than go to boarding school,” Aurora whispered, and then laughed.   
“You would really trade wizard-level powers for a xenophobic, emotionally retarded dark fairy?” Adrastia exclaimed. “It’s quite clear that you don’t understand the alternatives very well.”  
Having heard more than enough of her former friend’s vicious comments, Maleficent let go of Aurora, and rolling over, grabbed the surprised Adrastia and gave her a big kiss. The tears on her face burned the she-devil, who screamed behind her teeth and in her mind, until she could push the fairy off, and then shrieked at full volume, echoing off the walls of the tiny hut. Then, seizing the cloaks back, Maleficent proceeded to make herself and Aurora more comfortable. They ignored the nasty names Adrastia was calling the fairy, and tried to go to sleep. But the she-devil’s moaning and groaning was annoying enough to keep everyone awake until she finally ceased, falling asleep.  
Aurora kissed Maleficent and said softly, “With friends like that, who needs enemies?” The fairy smiled in agreement, and snuggled up close to her. They could both still smell the witch’s pipe smoke, and knew that she had silently listened to the entire evening’s noise without saying a word. What she was thinking, none of them could guess. Telepathy and the she-devil’s tricks were utterly ineffective on her iron fortress of a mind, and she chose to remain quiet that evening, lying in bed and smoking all night long, while the she-devil moaned and wailed about her ill-treatment. The princess and the fairy slept unusually well, without being awakened at all by the witch’s loud snoring.  
When morning came, Adrastia groaned, and the witch hopped out of bed as she always did, and whacked her servants awake. “Get up everyone! It’s another bright and cheerful chore-filled day!” she cackled happily. Aurora sighed and went outside and picked up a stick, rolling some slugs around in the dirt, while planning on making some eggs for herself and the fairy. What did the she-devil eat, she wondered. The witch had fed her the chicken blood last night. Was that their normal diet? Maleficent folded up the blankets and cloaks while Adrastia moaned and said that she was incapable of rising. “Aye, then spend the day in bed, but don’t let me catch you up out of it!” the witch snapped. When Aurora came indoors with a small basket of eggs and about nine slugs impaled on a stick and covered with dirt, the witch slurped them down and threw the stick into the fireplace. Adrastia shook with horror at the sight, and groaned again. Now she knew for certain that she couldn’t possibly arise that morning, after having seen that!  
“You’re with me,” the witch told Aurora. “Get every basket you can find, and hop in the cauldron.” Then she turned to Maleficent, “I think you already know what you’ll be doing.”  
Indeed she did. The same thing she did almost every day; re-spin fate. After eating an egg and watching Aurora and the witch fly off in the magic cauldron, she sat down at the spinning wheel and went to work. If only the bag wasn’t endless! Having the sack magically refill itself definitely sank morale. Adrastia slept while she worked, and the fairy was happy enough with her silence. After the awful things she had told Aurora the night before, she still wanted to beat the treacherous she-devil with her staff. Around midday, she made herself some tea, and then Adrastia woke up.  
“Oh…” she groaned, “However do you stand living in this horrible place?”  
It is not by choice, the fairy thought briskly, not really wanting to communicate with the she-devil at all, if she didn’t have to. She was still too angry. The things Adrastia had told and implied to Aurora the night before were partial truths spun at the right angle to make Maleficent seem like a true fiend. It had been a deliberate attempt to undermine and destroy their relationship; something the she-devil truly excelled at.  
Then Adrastia stood up, and brushed her long red hair with her fingers. “Stuck at that spinning wheel again?” The fairy didn’t dignify that with a response, so she asked, “Are you mad?”  
What do you think? You did everything you could to make my lover despise me.   
“Well, it is kind of weird that you raised her and now you’re having sex, don’t you think?”  
The fairy glared at her. That was not my plan, and I’ll thank you to stop insinuating that it was!  
Adrastia sat down next to her. “So, I’m supposed to think that it’s all just an accident? Is that what you told everyone? That the princess just threw herself at you? You can tell me the truth.”  
The truth? The fairy was aghast. You had to turn into a monster every time you told lies before you ever grasped what the very idea of truth might be! How dare you accuse me?  
“She’s very pretty, I’m agreeing with you,” Adrastia exclaimed. “I was trying to suggest something a lot more fun, like for all three of us, until you got all upset of course. I mean, would you be interested in sharing her? I can share back. Remember Trent, and how good-looking he was? I was right, wasn’t I? He was a really good lover!”  
That is beside the point, the fairy thought angrily. You called me emotionally retarded!  
“Sorry,” Adrastia wheedled, “But fairies aren’t known for emotional stability, and you’re crazier than most,” she added, despite Maleficent’s angry look. “Oh, don’t be like that! I just suggested that maybe all three of us could play, that’s all. You don’t have to get so upset about everything! Why are you so possessive? Really now, you did ruin a lot of that girl’s life. She missed out on going to school and a lot of other things as well, you’ll make her emotionally and socially retarded if you try to keep her isolated. Can’t you at least let her have a sex life that isn’t dominated by you? Seriously, Maleficent!”  
There was just enough truth in the she-devil’s web of half-lies to cause the fairy to doubt herself. However, Adrastia’s manipulations were always self-serving and deceitful. She didn’t want the she-devil having any sort of hold on Aurora, sexually or otherwise. Besides, she had been prepared to share her with Phillip. Stand back and let her go, even.  
“I have an idea. Let’s take these curses off of each other, and then leave this foul little hut and have a three way in the forest with your pretty blond. Then I’ll share with you. My son is awkward, and afraid of girls. If you give him a nice, gentle mating I’ll let you play with my beautiful, sixteen year old daughter…” Maleficent slapped her, and then Adrastia slapped her back.   
I would never touch your children!  
“Why, they aren’t good enough for you? Not pretty and blond and giggly? Not beautiful enough, that’s it, isn’t it? Arrogant, wicked, selfish fairy! I’ve figured out that you can’t talk or do magic while you’re here or the old hag will eat you. I read your girlfriend’s mind so easily it was like breathing! I’ll make you talk, Maleficent, if you don’t lift this curse off of me right now! I can use magic, and I’m going to make you wish you were dead before I’m done with you! Take the curse off! Now!” She shoved the fairy off the little wooden stool, and Maleficent swung at her with her staff as she fell. Bag, spinning wheel, and stool all went flying in different directions. Adrastia was infuriated that the fairy dared to defy her, and cast one of her favorite spells; Cause Pain. Maleficent hit her again before she could finish her incantation, and decided to get as far away from her as possible, lest the she-devil touch her with the agonizing sensations that would come from her hands. “You can’t run away from me,” Adrastia said. “I can easily catch you and make you do what I want you to. So just come back here, lift the curse off of me, and I’ll leave without making you feel like your bones are on fire. How’s that?”  
The fairy looked around for anything she could use to defend herself. She put the table between them, but that wouldn’t stop a spell, that would only prevent Adrastia from touching her. Anything, she thought, anything… the witch had said she couldn’t use fairy magic, meaning her own. But what if she found some of the witch’s things? Throwing a potion on the she-devil might not count as magic use, it could be seen as making a mess. Looking around quickly while the she-devil started another incantation, she grabbed a glass bottle of something that looked like little beans and bones, and pulling the stopper, flicked the contents across the table at Adrastia, careful not to get any of them on herself. Most scattered along the floor, missing the she-devil, but some did not. Wherever one of those little bean-looking things hit Adrastia’s bare skin, a penis appeared. The fairy erupted into silent laughter, and Adrastia was distracted enough to look down at her body and seeing what had happened, she ruined her own spell with a shriek. There were several penises on each leg, and two on her bare midriff.   
“Maleficent! You undo this spell right now!” Adrastia demanded. But the fairy was laughing too hard to do much of anything, even if she had wanted to. Instead, she sat down on the floor and continued to laugh. “Okay,” Adrastia agreed, watching the fairy, “It’s funny. You’ve had your joke, now get over here and fix it, or I will make you pray for death you’ll be in so much pain!”   
Then an idea came to the fairy, and she crawled over to the angry she-devil, laughing the entire way to disguise her thoughts. Then she looked up at her in a seductive way, and put her hand on one of the penises that had so suddenly appeared on the she-devil’s left leg. “What are you doing?” Adrastia demanded. Watching, and amazingly enough, feeling, what the fairy was doing with her hand, the she-devil was somewhat surprised to see that the penis was functional! The fairy looked up at her with a bewitching, naughty expression, and put her lips on it. The sensation was very nice, and Adrastia laughed, “You are a wicked fairy, aren’t you?” Then she realized what she had just done, and the fairy stood up. “You tricked me!”  
Yes, indeed, Maleficent thought, standing on her feet without any pain. I did, and now that you laughed at me begging, with my broken wings and ankles, your curse is over.   
“All right, you’re funny and smarter than I am,” Adrastia wheedled, “Now remove your curse and this stupid spell!”   
Noticing that Adrastia didn’t turn into a beast, Maleficent simply turned and started to run away. She had planned to go hide in the forest, but the witch was blocking the door, and Aurora was behind her.   
“We left them alone, and look what happened,” the witch said to the princess. “What have we learned today?”  
Aurora stared at the overturned stool and spinning wheel, the wool all over the floor from the fallen bag, and most of all at the she-devil with her newly acquired penises, placed in random positions, and tried to think of what to say. So she guessed, quelling a sudden urge to laugh, “Not to leave people who don’t like each other unsupervised around dangerous things like magical potions?”  
“That’s always a good idea,” the witch answered, “Anything else?”  
“Um… that just because they both have horns and wings doesn’t mean that they’re in any other way alike? Never to trust or speak to a devil?”  
“Well, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to think about it all while you’re helping your true love over there clean it all up. And I believe it is time for our guest to go home.”  
“I can’t leave looking like this!” Adrastia exclaimed.  
“Oh, if you leave them alone they’ll dry up and fall off. Just don’t play with them when they itch and you’ll be fine,” the witch answered. “Time to go!” Then she turned to Aurora, “Don’t forget the gloves! You don’t want to touch those bacula with your bare hands!”  
“What are bacula?” the princess asked, dutifully pulling her gloves out of her tool bag.  
“Magical penis bones,” the witch cackled, “Very rare, lots of enchanted phallic power!” she laughed loudly. “Don’t lose any! It’s bad enough some have already been wasted. I can imagine who it was that threw them all over,” she said, looking at Maleficent. “Well, start helping!”   
The fairy duly began picking fallen items up off the floor while the she-devil argued with the witch. “Listen to me, you old hag!” Adrastia shouted. “I am not leaving looking like this! Make that sneaky fairy take her ugliness curse off of me, and remove these things!”  
“It is most definitely time for you to go,” the witch answered angrily, “Or I will give you an ugliness curse that you’ll not soon forget.”  
That was enough for Adrastia, “Mother!” she called, and within moments, Lilith appeared. She took one look at her daughter and was obviously perplexed. “Look what they’ve done to me!” she wailed. “That treacherous, wicked fairy Maleficent did this, and the horrible, ugly old witch won’t make her fix it!”  
Then Lilith looked around, and seeing the witch, said, “I apologize, Great Wild Goddess, for my daughter’s rash words. I shall remove her from your sight, and we will trouble you no further. However,” she added, seeing the familiar face of the fairy who was ostensibly responsible for so many other offenses against her darling child, “I would like to take the dark fairy with us, and punish her for her misdeeds as I see fit. Many times over the last several decades she has harmed Adrastia, and I will no longer tolerate it.”  
“Oh, that’s the story you’ve been told, I don’t doubt,” the old witch answered. “The truth may be quite different. And anyway, the fairy is my servant now, and will remain here.”  
“So be it,” Lilith agreed, and taking the arguing Adrastia by the hand, they vanished.  
“A little of that creature went a long way,” the witch grumbled, taking out her pipe and sitting down on her bed to supervise the cleaning efforts.   
“Which creature?” Aurora asked. “I was surprised that her mother was so polite, after all the awful things…”  
“Don’t speak their names,” the witch interrupted her. “Speaking a devil’s name is likely to summon it. Occasionally just thinking about one is enough to attract its attention, and after just having gotten rid of that red-haired devil, the last thing I want is her coming back here again!” She turned to Maleficent, “And you considered that lying creature a friend?”  
The fairy sighed, and continued to put spilled wool back into the magic bag. To her consternation, it wouldn’t go back in; the bag was already overflowing without it. She sighed again, and put the stool and spinning wheel back in their proper places, while Aurora finished picking up the last of the magic bacula.  
“I thought penises didn’t have bones,” Aurora wondered.  
“They don’t,” the witch laughed, “That’s why these are magical, rare and valuable!”  
“If you say so,” Aurora answered, putting the jar up on the shelf. “I’d rather have a jar of real beans that I could eat.”  
That made the fairy smile, and the witch howl with laughter. “That’s because you are you,” the old hag cackled, “And you would be very surprised at what other people want.”  
Aurora shook her head, “Again, Grandmother, if you say so.” She paused, and waited for the witch’s laughter to subside, and noticed a bemused smile on her beloved fairy’s face, “But speaking of beans, those sound quite good right now. If any of those sacks of beans are non-magical, I’d like to cook some up.”  
“Absolutely,” the old hag smiled, “The big brown bag in the cupboard is the one you want.”


	31. The Tale of the Ogre Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shrek and Donkey abduct unsuspecting locals to babysit, so that Shrek and Fiona can have a date night away from their stressful son Bart Onionskin and the other four children. Aurora and Maleficent find themselves stuck in a stinky swamp supervising five unruly little ogres.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was so much fun to write! Bart Onionskin is Bart Simpson in ogre form, and that's why Shrek has to abduct people and make them babysit!

Chapter 31  
Tale of the Ogre Family

“So are you fit for duty?” the witch asked the fairy, whose feet had improved dramatically since the curse of Adrastia had been lifted, and now Aurora’s blessings worked much better. She could walk again, but was leery of whatever the witch had planned. Just because she could walk without pain didn’t mean she wanted to go rock climbing. “This place is much more dangerous than it seems. I want you to accompany the princess out on her chores. Help her with the fishing, gathering, and keep that staff handy; those xenophobic valley elves aren’t harmless, and the migrating orcs are a real threat. Things are changing…” the witch mumbled.  
At first Maleficent thought the old witch was paranoid. The land they were in was beautiful, with the sylvan forests, enchanting meadows, clear running streams and beautiful lakes well-kept by the Wild Elves. Aurora introduced her to some of them, and the shy sylphs, dryads, and wood nymphs who made their homes in the groves and treetops of the Elven forests. Best of all, from Aurora’s perspective, many of the same sorts of fey creatures dwelt here as at home in the Moors. She was overjoyed to realize that there were many fey lands, not just one, and so delighted in this Fairyland, just as she had as a child, remembering how much fun it was to run around and play. The Elvenfolk in the area were distant relatives of the Wood Elves, living in rustic treehouses and huts like their kin, but they were far more reclusive, and tended to avoid contact. They sometimes observed the pair as they went about their gathering tasks, but for the most part left them alone. As far as they knew, the Elves had only shot Adrastia, and no one could fault them for that. Sometimes they heard beautiful singing far off in the distance, towards the Wild Elves village, and they wondered who it was. Occasionally other voices were raised in song with the first, and flutes and lyres were heard. Several times they tried to find the source of the lovely singing, but only succeeded in walking in a circle, back to where they had started from. Clearly, there was some magic that was preventing them from invading the Wild Elves privacy.  
The fairy found a few things that might qualify as threats, if one was not knowledgeable. A baby silver dragon sunning himself by the river could have been dangerous, if anyone had been foolish enough to bother him. Treants were only dangerous if you were setting large fires, or cutting down lots of trees. The hippogriff only needed to be treated with respect, and a passing group of halflings were harmless unless attacked. Perhaps the witch was worried that a satyr or centaur might abduct the princess; that could indeed be a bad situation.  
One day the witch told them to go fishing. “This is easy,” Aurora said to Maleficent as they walked to the riverside, “Mostly we just relax on the shore.” She led Maleficent as far down the river as possible, before it turned boggy, and as distant from the witch’s hut as they could get. Indeed, it was relaxing, and there wasn’t much to do but enjoy the pleasant calm of a summer’s day by the river. They had already caught more fish than the witch expected them to return with, and so after going swimming, decided to pick some berries. This is so much better than being stuck at the horrible spinning wheel, Maleficent thought. Out of the depressing, macabre hut, it was much more pleasant, and especially not to keep dredging up bad memories from the miserable, bottomless bag. Of course, the witch would make her do some more spinning when they returned, while Aurora made dinner, but it wasn’t nearly so onerous if she didn’t have to do it all day long. She was appreciating the subtle, sweet and sour taste of a reddish-yellow berry when Aurora called to her to come down to the river.   
“Maleficent! Look! It’s a talking donkey!”  
She looked at it; rather a plain animal really, small, greyish brown, and homely looking.   
“Say hello to my friend Maleficent,” Aurora said kindly to the donkey, which looked expectantly at her, but said nothing. Maleficent also looked at Aurora, but more out of concern. Whatever had she thought the creature said? “Maleficent can’t talk, but you could say hello to her,” Aurora was saying, as Maleficent tugged at her sleeve and shook her head. But, Aurora kept insisting that the creature could speak perfectly, and was still trying to get the donkey to say hello when they smelled something terrible. At first the fairy thought that the donkey had beshit itself, until she was grabbed up off her feet from behind. Aurora screamed, and was seized by a big green arm as well.   
“Good work, Donkey!” a big voice bellowed, and Maleficent’s nose wrinkled in disgust as she recognized the dreadful, overpowering smell of ogre. “Now I’ve got these two, you bring along that basket of fish!”  
“Right on, Shrek!” Donkey said with a loud hawing laugh, and kicking around. “Fiona and the kids are gonna be so happy to see all this!” Then it picked up the basket in its mouth, and followed the ogre as he strode away from the river, trotting obediently along behind him.  
The creature’s smell was unbearable, and Aurora was gasping and choking, even though the ogre was not squeezing her that tightly. The fairy struggled, twisting this way and that, kicking and beating at the creature with her fists and wings, hoping to get free. Unfortunately, not only were ogres highly magic-resistant, but their tough hides were difficult to pierce without enchanted weapons. She continued to struggle while the princess shouted and screamed to be put down.  
“Settle down there,” the ogre told them, jostling them and tightening his grasp.  
“Are you going to eat us?” Aurora asked.  
“Oh, maybe later,” the ogre answered. “But first there’s a special job for you to do.”  
“Job? What? But we’re already servants of the Wild Hag.”  
“That’s handy,” the ogre said, taking giant strides through an evil-smelling swamp. “I haven’t had a night out with the missus without the kids in years, and so your job is to keep them busy. If you don’t, then I’ll eat ya. See, it’s a deal!”  
Aurora screamed, and the fairy considered their options. Escaping from several little ogres might be a lot easier than trying to get away from a big one. At any rate, she felt like she was being crushed between a tree trunk and boulder. Being set down as quickly as possible was her goal. If only she could use her magic!  
Between the swamp and the ogre, the fetid air was difficult to breathe, but became even worse as they approached the ogre’s hut. The donkey set down the basket of fish and jumped around excitedly, as Aurora screamed, and five horrid little ogres came spilling out of the makeshift cottage. The ogre dropped Aurora, and the five young ogres approached her as she staggered to her feet. They alternated picking their ears and noses as they circled around Aurora. The big ogre meanwhile, began shaking Maleficent up and down, as the fairy struggled to escape from his grasp.  
“Shrek,” the donkey asked, “What are you doing?”  
“Making a pile of magic dust,” the ogre replied.  
“That’s pixies, you fool,” the donkey said. “All you’re making is a big pile of feathers and an angry fairy.”  
“Huh?” the ogre said, looking at the ground. He couldn’t see any magic dust, but maybe he wasn’t shaking hard enough. He squinted, and then the disgruntled fairy punched him the face. “Ooof,” he said, dropping her. Her head hurt from being shaken, and she had nearly fainted from the horrid stench of ogre armpit sweat. Seeing stars and double green bouncing globules as she recovered from the rough shaking, she struggled to her feet and away from the large ogre, only to find herself beset by two smaller ones. While one little ogre had its finger jammed in its ear, the other one was vigorously scratching the crack of its ass. Just then a voice came from the hut, and asked if the babysitters were there yet. “Yes, dear,” the ogre called, seizing the princess and the fairy again, and dragging them into the hut.  
“Help!” Aurora cried, fearful of being eaten. She had discovered that struggling was useless, just as the fairy had. The creature had the hide of a dragon and the strength of a tree. It also seemed to have the brain of a rock. She looked up and saw a female ogre, so identified by the dress, longer hair, and shriekier tone of voice.   
The ogress looked at them and smiled. “Oh, Shrek, perfect! They should keep the kids entertained all night while we’re out!”  
“I told you, dear,” the ogre smiled.  
Maleficent was stunned. They couldn’t really be about to do what they were talking about. If the two older ogres left, they could escape the younger ones, who were jumping around excitedly, smashing into things, and there wasn’t much in the hut that hadn’t already been destroyed. Even the giant cauldron over the fireplace had a large, leaking crack in it, as did all the stonemasonry, the huge wooden table, and the stumps that served as chairs. There were shredded bits of cloth on the floor that had once been blankets. Everything was covered in a strange layer of greenish ooze that she realized with sheer horror was ogre snot. The ogre sat her down forcefully on the horrible floor, placing Aurora beside her.   
“Now, here’s the deal,” the ogre said. “You stay here with Donkey and the kids while the missus and I go out on a date. When we get back, you can go. If you try to run away, and I have to bring you back, we eat you. Got that?”  
“Wait a minute, I’m coming with you!” the donkey exclaimed.  
“No, Donkey,” the ogress told him, “You’re staying here with the kids. This is a date night for me and Shrek.”  
“Shrek! What kind of trickery is that? I thought we were a team!” the donkey said, lying down and sulking.  
“Sorry Donkey,” the ogre said, “But I haven’t had a night out alone with my wife in years.”  
“Wouldn’t this work better if you found willing babysitters?” Aurora suggested.  
“That’s not going to happen, now is it?” the ogress said, “And this works even better than any no trespassing sign! You’ll never steal our fish or berries again, now will you?”  
“I’m very, very sorry,” Aurora stammered, “We didn’t know this part of the river was yours! Please let us go, and I promise we’ll never, ever, ever come back here again! Or anywhere near your part of the river!”  
“We’ll let you go tomorrow morning,” the ogress told them. “Now, you have fish you can feed the kids, and there’s stone soup in the cauldron. The beer in the keg is off limits to the kids and Donkey, and you have to watch them. Bart and Donkey will try to get it. Bedtime is no later than midnight, and make sure all the kids wipe their noses and butts before they go to sleep. Lisa is the most reliable kid and can help you if you have any questions. What are your names?”  
“But,” Aurora protested, “We can’t stay here! I’m the Princess Aurora, and this is my true love the dark fairy Maleficent. We are supposed to serve the witch Baba Yaga for seven years, and she’s going to wonder where we are! We’re supposed to be back at the cottage by sundown…” Maleficent elbowed her to stop talking. She’d already given the ogres too much information.  
“Oh, the witch,” the father ogre said with a nod, “Yes, what a nice lady. We’ll stop by her house, bring her something nice, and tell her you’re watching the kids for us tonight.” He beamed happily as he noticed the sad faces on the princess and the fairy, and then with a hearty laugh he pointed at the unhappy fairy and asked Aurora, “What’s wrong with her? Why don’t she talk?”  
“It’s part of the bargain we made the witch,” Aurora said sadly, while Maleficent elbowed her sharply again. No, no, no! She made motions that meant to be quiet.   
“Oh, I see,” the ogress said, both she and the ogre laughing. “That’s no problem, Donkey talks enough for several people. Okay, everyone have a good time, and we’ll see you tomorrow!”  
Aurora cried out in despair as the parents turned to leave, and the kids jumped around shouting what was presumably goodbye. The door closed with a slam and Aurora made a sad sound at hearing what was probably a large boulder being pushed up against it.  
“You’d think they don’t know we could use the window,” the donkey grumbled. “Can you believe it? They left me here with babysitters instead of take me with them! How could they do this to me?”  
“How could they do this to us?” Aurora said sadly, as Maleficent stood up and pulled Aurora up after her. One of the little ogres came up to her and picking his nose, he offered it to her; green and wiggling. “Aaaahhh!” Aurora screamed.  
Mumbling to himself, “Nobody babysits Bart Onionskin,” the eldest young ogre called to them, “Hey, witches, check this out!” He turned around, dropped his trousers, and tail sticking straight up, blew a blast of fire in their direction. Then he laughed maniacally and leapt away as they dodged the flames, and Aurora screamed.  
“You’ll have to excuse Bart,” Donkey said. “He’s got some sort of troll throwback gene that makes him act up and shoot fire out of his butt. I don’t know what it is, but none of the other ogres have a tail, either. I can’t believe this,” the donkey continued to complain, while the eldest little ogre leapt up onto the table and seized the keg of beer. Grinning while hissing and sticking his tongue at them, he threw the barrel down and towards the wall, clearly in an effort to crack it open rather than use the spigot. Then he leapt after it, while the donkey blocked Aurora’s path, and another little ogre child approached Maleficent.   
The fat little ogress was scratching the crack of her ass with great vigor, and announced proudly to the fairy, “We’ve got the biggest crotchroaches anywhere!”   
The fairy’s eyes flew open in terror and she cast a spell. All the little ogres and the complaining donkey were instantly silent and frozen, and floated up towards the ceiling, where they stuck.  
“Maleficent! You’re not supposed to do magic! Remember what the witch will do...” She stopped as the fairy crossed her arms and shook her head. Then she held up her little finger on her left hand and made a cutting motion with the other hand, to indicate that she’d cut it off for the witch before she’d let some nasty little ogres wipe green nose worms on her and give them crotchroaches. “Your little finger if you’re lucky,” Aurora said, “I think she prefers fairy horns. Oh, I hope she doesn’t find out!”  
The fairy shrugged and picked up the beer keg, stopping it from rolling into the fireplace. Then she motioned for Aurora to help her. Finding the remains of a broom in the corner, she bound it back together and started sweeping up the dreadful mess that was on the floor, thinking to herself that it certainly didn’t help that the ogres kept a donkey in the house. It talked enough, but didn’t seem to mind making it’s droppings on the floor. While sweeping, she found a wide variety of bugs crawling around in the dung, which she swept into the fire and burnt. “This place makes the witch’s cottage look clean and tidy!” Aurora exclaimed. The fairy laughed as she picked up and put away what she thought might be dishes; it was hard to tell. Some were broken skulls, others were wooden utensils. She found and uprighted something that she was fairly certain was a trough big enough for the entire family, then she shook some rags and skins that might be their bedding out the window, and saw an enormous amount of what she hoped were spiders fleeing for their lives. Then she folded them up and set them on the furs that doubled as beds, and neither the fairy nor the princess was foolhardy enough to touch those. If there were crotchroaches anywhere besides the butts of the ogres, their beds were probably the spot. Then they crawled out the window to get some fresh air. The hut was stuffy, stinky, and more barn than house. They each took a deep breath, and then considered what to do next. They briefly considered escaping, but the ogre hadn’t had any trouble seizing them and bringing them there, he probably wouldn’t have any trouble grabbing them again if he wanted to, and he could enlist the aid of his wife. Being eaten by the ogre family wouldn’t be any better than angering and being eaten by the witch. Besides, Aurora pointed out, the ogre seemed like he already knew the witch, and he’d planned to ‘bring her something nice.’ Escaping wouldn’t be a very secret thing, if the ogre would know exactly where they went. She noticed the look Maleficent gave her, and realized that once again, she had given away too much information. The basket of fish was still there, so she picked it up, and decided to cook them over the fire. Enjoying a little more fresh air, the fairy collected up enough firewood for the evening, and tossing it in the window, reluctantly climbed back in herself, taking note of the enormous boulder the ogres had used to bar the door. Whatever had been the point of that, she wondered.  
Cooking the fish, Maleficent and Aurora each ate a little, and then after filling the trough with fish and stone soup, Aurora persuaded the fairy to release the little ogres and the donkey long enough to eat, at least. She gazed askance at the princess, and let the donkey down. Aurora asked him which little ogre Lisa was, and had the fairy release the child the ogress had said was the most reasonable. Indeed, little Lisa was an avid nose-picker and prone to shouting “Look at me!” but was mostly reasonable and also told them everything that her brother Bart was likely to try, and that they should put Donkey outside to prevent any more droppings on the floor.   
“Oh, that is grossly unfair!” the donkey protested. “I am being framed! Unfairly singled out for punishment and blame! I would like to point out that I am not the only one who uses the floor…”  
“I’m not sure what ogre poop looks like,” Aurora told him, “But I do know that the big piles of donkey manure are yours. Outside!” However, the donkey chose to argue and try to run away, and not wanting to listen to it, Maleficent stuck him to the ceiling again, nice and silent. She released the children in the order Lisa advised, and then re-stuck them when they started fighting, screaming or flicking boogers.   
“Watch out for Bart!” Lisa said, as the fairy released him to eat his dinner.   
“Give me a babysitter, will they?” the ogre boy grumbled as he shoved fish, rocks, and something that looked like purple onions into his open maw and grinding them visibly into a grayish mass, which he then swallowed and belched. Then he used his tongue to slurp from the trough. “Hey lady,” he called to the fairy, “How’d you get those big ugly scars on your ankles and arm?”   
The fairy stared balefully at him, and Aurora answered, “She was attacked by seven greedy dwarves, who were intent upon robbery and murder.”  
“Awesome!” Bart laughed, “Did they try to cut her head off? I bet there’s a wicked, gruesome looking scar under that neck-thing,” he pointed.  
Maleficent looked angry, and Aurora started to point out that saying such things wasn’t very nice, when the boy shouted, “Hahaha! You’ll regret ever babysitting Bart Onionskin!” as he leapt up, knocking over the trough and swinging overhand from the rafters towards the open window and freedom, just as his sister had predicted he would. The fairy stuck him to the ceiling once again, and his sister recommended that they simply leave him there.  
“He’ll just do something else bad the second you let him go.” So leaving Bart glued silently to the ceiling, the other ogre children were permitted to go free as long as they behaved. Donkey was freed under the condition that he remain outside. He did eventually go outside, despite his protestations, when the fairy levitated him and sent him through the window, but that was not the last they heard of him, as he sat outside the window and sang a sad song about being lonely. To pass the time, Aurora assembled the little ogres on their beds, and told them funny stories about her pixie aunties, whom she had noticed that she hadn’t seen in years. She wondered whatever must have happened to them. It would have been wonderful, she thought sadly, to have had their help. Diaval had stuck around with his mate, and helped out whenever he could. The pixies didn’t have a nest full of baby birds to look after, or any other pressing business that she had ever noticed, and she could have used some assistance on many occasions, especially since Maleficent wasn’t supposed to speak or use magic.  
After the little ogres fell asleep, Aurora and Maleficent stood by the fire, which was the best place to avoid bugs, and listened to the donkey sing sad songs of being all alone. Eventually he too fell asleep, but the princess and the fairy didn’t dare lie down, they were still too scared of crotchroaches to risk any such thing. If there were any, they wanted to see them coming. They passed a dull night, and it was well into morning when the little ogres awoke, and the mother and father ogre returned, pushing the giant boulder back out of the way and opening the door.  
The ogress swooned in joy when she saw the condition of her home. Donkey ran in on the heels of the ogre, cavorting and leaping around. The little ogres simply ran around in excited circles, shouting and scratching themselves everywhere while Donkey pointed out Bart still adhered to the ceiling. The ogre and ogress also both exclaimed in delighted amazement when they saw that, making ooohs and aaaahs, with their hands clasped together in beatific discovery. Since the ogre parents were there at last, Maleficent released Bart, who joined Donkey in complaining.  
“Those two fairy hags stuck me to the ceiling all night long!” Bart complained. “Come on, Dad, catch those witches and let’s eat them!”  
“And they threw me outside, all night!” Donkey exclaimed, “Sad, cold, and so lonely! All alone, all alone! Come on, Shrek, let’s get those witches!”  
“Stuck is a good place for you,” Shrek told Bart, “And outside is why we put the boulder in front of the door, so that when they threw Donkey out, he couldn’t get back in.”  
“Oh, I’m so happy!” the ogress exclaimed. “The house is clean, and nothing is broken! You two can babysit for us anytime!”  
“Oh, please no!” Aurora begged. “I promise we won’t steal your fish or berries ever again! Can we please go now?”  
“I’d love to know the spell that sticks disobedient children to the ceiling,” the ogress hinted.  
“It’s just fairy magic,” Aurora answered, thinking that it was something they shouldn’t discuss, since Maleficent wasn’t supposed to be doing any spells in the first place.  
“But the witch said it’s fine as long you’re only doing magic while babysitting for us,” the ogress smiled. “We had a nice visit last night on our way to the Lovin’ Swamp.” The ogress made eyes at the ogre, who made a randy, growly sound back at her. The ogre pinched the ogress’ behind, and then they kissed.  
The ogre grunted, “Lots of lovin’ goin’ on in the Lovin’ Swamp! Grrr… hahaha!”  
“Eeeyeeww,” Lisa said, running outside.   
“Ugh!” Bart shouted, running after her.   
Taking their cue, Maleficent seized Aurora’s hand and ran out the door after the young ogres while the ogre and ogress kissed. Instead of turning towards the giant mud puddles where the little ogres went, she pulled Aurora behind her and headed back to the river. She didn’t even begin to slow down until Aurora begged her to, and she was confident from the fresh smell of the forest that there were no ogres chasing them.   
“Oh, that was one of the worst nights I’ve ever spent,” Aurora exclaimed. “Let’s never go back to that part of the forest!” The fairy nodded in agreement, and then Aurora said softly, “I hope the witch doesn’t punish you, though.” It was a sobering thought, but Maleficent put her finger over her lips, indicating that they shouldn’t speak of it. Perhaps the witch wouldn’t know if they didn’t tell her.  
Upon returning to the Yaga’s hut, standing as it always was upon its chicken legs, it squatted down and allowed them to enter. The inside smelled smoky and sour, like an old kitchen full of burnt things, but it was much better than the hideous stench of ogre and donkey dung. They did however smell the “something nice,” the Onionskins had left for the witch. It was a large bouquet of skunk cabbage, stenchblossoms, and crapweed, proudly displayed in a troll foot for a vase. The witch was stirring something in her cauldron, and turning to look at them with her one good eye. She cackled, “So, how was babysitting for the Onionskin children?”  
“That was awful!” Aurora exclaimed. “They have a talking donkey that poops on their floor, and that oldest child, Brat, is just awful…”  
“Bart,” the witch laughed loudly.  
“They pick their noses and scratch their behinds constantly, and one of the little ogres said they have something called crotchroaches. What are crotchroaches?”  
The witch laughed so hard she dropped the bone ladle on the floor. “Nothing you’d want, princess,” the old hag cackled wildly. “Usually only bridge and net trolls get crotchroaches… But that reminds me,” she thought aloud, “Of something I meant to do. I’ll be back later.” So saying, she hopped on out the door and into her flying cauldron, where she was quickly aloft.  
Aurora sighed, glad that the witch hadn’t asked them any more questions. She once again had to be careful what she said, the tattletale toads were hiding there in the corners, like they always were. “I never thought I would be happy to be here in the witch’s hut,” she said. “But, after that experience, I’m grateful to be able to sit or lie down without worrying that something horrible is going to crawl over me.”   
Going back to their normal chores, they didn’t see the witch again until later that evening, when she returned with three stinky billy goats and a troll piled into her cauldron. “Look,” she announced gleefully, “Dinner and a trollskin! Hahaha! It’s been a productive day!”  
“Hooray,” said Aurora, less than enthusiastically. She knew exactly who was going to be gutting and preparing those goats, and hoped she wasn’t going to have to deal with the dead troll; especially if it had crotchroaches.  
“More good news,” the witch laughed diabolically. “Mr. and Mrs. Onionskin are so happy with the great job you did watching their little ogres that they want you to come back as soon as possible.”  
“No!” Aurora screamed in real fear, “Oh, no! I don’t ever want to go back there!”  
“So there are worse things than working for the old witch, aye?”   
“Yes,” the princess agreed, “Yes, there are! And that’s definitely one of them!”  
“All right, then,” the witch cackled, “You’d best be quick about cooking up some goats, and try to get that troll skin all in one piece. Gonna make me a fine raincoat. I need a new one, after all these years…”  
Aurora nodded, and took Maleficent outside with her, to help with the job of skinning the troll. Anything was better than babysitting the ogre children and their talking donkey. When the next night the witch returned with three little pigs and a wolf in her cauldron, she didn’t complain about cooking them either, although she briefly wondered again what had become of her three pixie aunties.  
Far, far away, in the finest palace in the realm of man, Snow White was trying on some lovely new shoes. Some were pink, others white, yellow, or blue. But all were so beautiful as to be postivitely scrumptious, and the silk flowers and jewels set upon them thrilled her while her delightful friends the three dear pixies flew around happily casting magic spells upon her and the wonderful new footwear. Enchanted to dance beautifully, blessed to never chafe her feet; Snow White and her best friends were having so much fun! Magical sparkles flew as they sang and danced! Of course it was so very sad about dear, sweet Aurora, doubtless the horrible Old Wild Hag had eaten her, while kind Phillip and his valiant brothers had been unable to find where the wicked old witch had made her magical hut run away to. Poor, dear Princess Aurora, they all lamented, she should have married Prince Phillip and stayed away from that dreadful Maleficent. Snow White had wept when the three pixies had told her about the terrible things that her sweet little Rose Red had been doing all those years. It was hard to even imagine her baby sister becoming involved with devils, casting terrible, evil spells and torturing, even killing people! The pixies lamented how the Wicked Queen, Snow White’s stepmother and Maleficent’s mother, had dumped off her dreadful child in the Moors, unloading her wild, willful, spoiled and completely untrained little dark fairy on them. They told her of the wicked fairy Maleficent, and her diabolical habits; which included indecent relations with her female servant, whom she eventually killed through vile excesses and dire neglect. Everyone had heard about the awful curse laid upon the infant princess, but Snow White had refused to believe her husband’s and the wizard’s grim guesses about the true identity of the angry fairy, and she had tried so hard to hope for the best, to welcome her long lost sister home. But it was not to be, they all lamented. Maleficent had worked her evil magic so thoroughly upon the young princess that they were both damned. Why, Snow White still wondered, couldn’t Rose Red just be good? Couldn’t she find a husband and learn how to behave properly? And why, oh why, did she insist upon doing nasty things with the lovely young princess? And what, they all wondered, had been wrong with Aurora to want to do those twisted, deviant things with her? The pixies sadly told Snow White that it had been Maleficent’s fault, she had cast her evil spells upon the little princess from the very beginning, and so it was no surprise that poor Aurora thought that the wicked fairy was her friend, even her true love. Deceptions, they said, illusions, evil spells, and twisted lies all told by the dark fairy to obtain her unnatural desires. Snow White had wiped away a tear, and concluded that her poor little half-sister had grown up to be a vindictive, cruel monster, just like her mother Queen Clecie had been.  
While Snow White wept for their deaths, Aurora and Maleficent were fishing on a riverbank, and gathering berries. They were very careful now to avoid going towards the swampy southern direction where the Onionskin family dwelt, and instead went north, farther towards the Wild Elves. From where they were, they could almost always hear the beautiful singing, and often wondered who it was. The riverbank was a lovely place, however, and they enjoyed each other’s company in the mellow light of the forest while waiting for the fish to happen into their lures and nets. Aurora leaned her fishing pole up against a boulder, and taking her fairy love in her arms, kissed her gently. Her kiss intensified as she felt Maleficent’s arms around her, and the fairy’s welcoming embrace.   
“Hey Shrek, are we going fishing today? Are we? Huh? I like fishing, a lot more than stone soup. I’m just sick of that damn stone soup…”  
Stiffening with horror, the lovers stopped their embracing, and leaving all their equipment behind, turned and ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction from where the voices were coming from.   
“Look,” the ogre laughed, “Fish! Now I think I’ll catch some babysitters!”  
Hearing the donkey laughing with glee and the ogre crashing through the brush behind them, the fairy and the princess ran as fast as they could, heedless of where they were running to; anything and anywhere was preferable to being caught by the ogre and forced to babysit again. So they were quite surprised when they crashed through the bushes into a magical glen, from which they realized the singing had been coming from. The singer was a blindfolded woman chained to a tree, and beside her was an elven archer who was watching her. Leaning up against a tree was another elf playing a flute, and two more guards, who were playing a board game with shiny crystals and wooden dice. A delicious looking picnic lunch had been spread out on a nearby flat boulder, and a large dwarf in plate armor was busily eating a great meaty sandwich. Most amazingly of all, in this beautiful glen, so heavenly scented with flowers and draped in honeysuckle and grape vines, was a white unicorn that was standing on the other side of the chained woman, opposite the elven guard. Everyone suddenly stopped and startled, and stared at each other for a second, before the dwarf and the guards all grabbed up their weapons, except for the unicorn and the guard beside the chained woman, who kept their eyes on her. She had stopped singing and was listening carefully.  
“State your business!” growled the dwarf, tossing aside the sandwich and picking up his axe.  
“Sorry to intrude,” Aurora said, catching her breath, “But we’re being chased by an ogre!”   
“Who are you, and what are you doing in the Forbidden Forest?” an elven guard asked, “And who is that with you, friend or foe?”  
“I’m Princess Aurora, and this is my lover, the fairy Maleficent.” Although she had said too much several times before and gotten them into trouble, this seemed like a good time to tell the truth.   
“Maleficent?” the guard repeated, and then glanced over at his companions. They cast doubtful glances at each other, and then the speaker said, “Bind their hands.”  
“No!” Aurora cried, “Please don’t do that! The ogre…”  
Just then a terrible, terrible smell wafted into the previously beautifully scented glen. The fragrant blossoms were immediately overpowered by the ghastly odor of ogre. “Here they are!” a familiar voice shouted, and the little donkey cavorted into the glen. “Uh oh,” the donkey exclaimed, seeing the situation, “Shrek!” The elves started choking on the smell, and the unicorn sneezed repeatedly, while the dwarf struggled to maintain verticality. He smashed the visor down on his helm, to help block the odor.  
“I’m coming, Donkey,” the ogre called, striding boldly forward out of the brush. “Oh, look! It’s a party!”  
“State your business, Ogre!” the dwarf choked from behind his helm.  
“Don’t mind us, I’m just collecting the babysitters for tonight,” the ogre declared happily. He swooped up the unhappy princess and fairy, turning around to leave. Aurora screamed for help, and saw the elven guards firing arrows at the ogre, who continued to stride away. Branches smacked her in the face as she screamed again and the ogre continued to tromp his way through the bushes. The little donkey followed them, unharmed. When she stopped screaming, Aurora noticed that the ogre had a number of arrows stuck in him, but he didn’t seem to care. She looked over at Maleficent, who was gazing at her with a reproachful expression that Aurora could easily read. You had to tell them my name, didn’t you? Next time, stretch the truth a little and introduce me as the Blackberry Fairy, will you?  
“I’m sorry,” Aurora said sadly, watching the scenery all pass by backwards. She wasn’t at all surprised when the ogre strode past their fishing spot and the donkey obediently brought their fish basket along. Then she changed the subject, “Why doesn’t this ogre even notice that he’s got arrows all over him?”  
“Ogres have some mighty tough hides,” the donkey happily explained. “Why, I’ve seen so many arrows stuck in Shrek’s butt it’d make your head spin…”  
The combination of the ogre’s smell and the donkey’s incessant chattering made their heads spin. The odors didn’t get any better either, and they knew quite well where they were when the ogre set them down in front of a dirty hut, and five wild little ogres were running around.  
“I think you know what to do,” the ogre laughed. “Dear, I found sitters for tonight!”  
“Oh, Shrek, what a wonderful surprise!” the ogress exclaimed, and pulled the arrows out of her husband.  
Aurora moaned audibly, and the little ogress Lisa hopped on over to say, “I’m glad you’re back! Can we see more magic? Be sure to stick Bart to the ceiling again!”  
While Bart ran off into the bushes, and the donkey pestered the ogre to let him come along on their date, Aurora realized something. “Wait,” she said to Maleficent, “The witch said you could do magic, as long as you’re babysitting for the ogres. We’re stuck here for the night, so let’s do some magic and have some fun!” The fairy raised an eyebrow, and looked like she was about to answer, when Aurora reminded her, “Magic, but she didn’t say talk.”  
“That’s the spirit,” the ogre said cheerfully, as he and the ogress walked away. “We’ll be back in the morning!” The donkey tried to follow them, but was quickly thrown back, landing in the mud. The sad little donkey pulled himself back out of the mud puddle field and started muttering about friendship and rejection.   
“Let’s have some fun,” Aurora suggested, “And let’s not go into their house. We’ll just make a campfire outside, and cook the fish, and then it doesn’t matter what messes they make. And if we don’t clean Mrs. Onionskin’s house, they might not be so eager to have us back again.” The fairy sighed and nodded. Anything was better than risking crotchroaches by going into the ogre’s hut. So she sat on a stump in a swamp and conjured some magic bubbles, and let the little ogres chase them around while Aurora cooked their dinner. Eventually, the little ogres wore themselves out after running around, and later that night, after the young ogres had fallen asleep, Aurora and Maleficent sat beside the fire.   
“You know,” Aurora said, casting her eyes over at the fairy beside her, “It doesn’t smell so bad any more once you get used to it, and the ogre children are in bed.” She sat down on the same stump Maleficent was on, and put her arms around her. “While the ogres are in the Lovin’ Swamp, maybe we could have some lovin’ right here…”  
Humans really can do it anywhere, the fairy thought in amazement. But the ogres’ lair was definitely not her idea of a love nest, and she could still smell them, even if Aurora had become used to it. She raised one eyebrow, which made Aurora giggle and kiss her anyway. She felt the princess’ fingers trailing lightly up her thigh, under the tattered old skirt.   
“Even if it does smell a bit funky, we can still touch each other without the witch smoking or snoring. And Maleficent, I never get tired of touching you!” Aurora confided, her fingertips moving gently and slowly up the fairy’s thigh, until she found the delicate spot between her legs. “I used to daydream about what was under your dress…”  
“So, what you want to do tonight?” the little donkey asked cheerfully, trotting on over and sitting down.  
Aurora sighed and the fairy stifled a laugh. “I think I figured out the real reason Shrek and Fiona require babysitters,” Aurora exclaimed. “Donkey, are you ever not around?”  
“Never!” the happy little creature responded. “Now, what sounds like fun?”  
Back at the witch’s hut the next day, after the ogre and ogress had returned from their date in the Lovin’ Swamp, Aurora asked the questions they had been wondering. “Who was the woman we saw in the Wild Elves forest glade? She was chained to a tree, and blindfolded, but she was singing, and her guards were eating, listening to music and playing board games. In addition to the elves, there was a dwarf and a unicorn. Who were they, and why is that lady tied to a tree?”  
“So you found the source of the singing,” the old hag laughed humorlessly. “Being a captive of the Elves is not as bad as being held by some others,” she said, “But a prisoner is still a prisoner. That was the immortal Spirit Helene, a friend of mine.”  
“Then why don’t you set her free? Or if she’s immortal, why doesn’t she free herself?”  
“Things must happen when it is time for them to happen,” the witch answered.  
“But why is she chained there to begin with?”  
“She’s very unlucky,” the witch answered vaguely, “And no more questions from you.”  
“But,” the princess thought aloud, “No one should have to stay chained to a tree… forever. Especially if they didn’t really do anything wrong, and are just unlucky.”  
“No, they shouldn’t. But lots of things happen that shouldn’t, but they do, and the things that are will always remain more powerful than the things that we think should be. Beware the word ‘should.’ It will lead you astray.”  
But neither Aurora or Maleficent could sleep that night, and Aurora whispered, “I have an idea. I want to rescue that poor lady. Let’s make a deal with the ogres. We will babysit for them three times in exchange for their help in freeing her. Shrek’s smell is enough to gag anyone, and we should have enough time to untie her while they choke.” Maleficent raised an eyebrow, and so   
Aurora continued, “It makes me really sad to think of that poor lady chained up there, just because she’s unlucky. That’s just not fair. Luck isn’t something you choose; I’ve always had good luck, but yours is terrible…” The fairy gave her a stern look, and then Aurora kissed her and laughed. “I’m hoping that’s because of the oathbreaker’s curse,” she giggled, “And that it gets better!” Maleficent gave her another less than overjoyed look, and Aurora continued her planning. “Let’s talk to the ogres tomorrow!”  
The next morning, when they were supposed to be fishing, they left their nets and traps set, and instead went to the ogre’s smelly stump in the swamp. The ogre and his little donkey were gone, but the ogress was there, and she readily agreed to the princess’ plan, overjoyed by the thought of a whole three days of babysitting, and promised to have her husband and his accomplice ready and waiting the next morning. She was also very curious, and offering them some relatively clean herbal tea, asked Aurora how and why it was that they were servants of the old witch. Feeling quite at ease talking to the friendly ogress, Aurora told her everything, from the early curse to the first kiss of true love, and how the Seven Dwarves had murdered Maleficent for her magic belt, and that now they were serving the Baba Yaga for seven years as a repayment for bringing the fairy back to life. Maleficent gave Aurora that look that let her know she was once again giving away too much information, when the ogress surprised them both and revealed that she too had once been a fair young princess, and fallen in love; with an ogre. They listened in shock as the ogress shared her story; about how she had once been a beautiful princess, but chosen this form because it was what matched her true love. Upon leaving the ogre’s hut, once they were out of earshot, Aurora kissed her fairy love, and said, “My luck is better than I ever imagined it was! That poor woman!”  
Maleficent decided to take that as a compliment, and wondered what the princess’ plan for rescuing the chained singer was. When they returned to their fishing gear, she wrote her question in the sand.  
“Oh, that’s easy,” Aurora giggled, “We’ll just untie her while the ogre distracts them.”  
That didn’t sound terribly successful to the fairy, but then she realized that if they took an ogre child with them, it would count as babysitting, and so she could use magic. Yes, she thought and then wrote, let us bring the sensible little ogress with us, and that will aid matters greatly. But, enjoying the sunny morning by the river, she soon forgot about the ogres, and admired the beauty of the forest. It was one of those crystal clear days, and she could see the mountains in the distance, and what was probably the snow packs and tributaries that created the river they were fishing from. It was so beautiful she could become lost in it if she didn’t mind herself not to.  
Aurora was smiling happily in a joyful, childlike way as tiny, pixie-like fairies swirled around her. They were little flower fairies of the wayside, making their homes in the branches and blossoms of this beautiful place. Lovely twinkling music accompanied them and Aurora gave in to the urge to dance with them, large as she was in comparison, while Maleficent simply enjoyed the music. It was so delightful that it was quite dark by the time they returned to the witch’s hut. “This place is dazzling and magical,” Aurora commented as they picked their way through the darkness. “It seems as though not only is it wonderful to look at, but there’s always fanciful, enchanting music to go with it.”  
The next morning dawned soggy and grey, in great contrast to the majesty of the day before, and they made their way through the mist to the ogre’s hut more by memory and smell than by sight. When they arrived, Shrek and Donkey were waiting, but the ogress forbade any children to go along, saying that it was too dangerous. Bart and Lisa complained loudly, whining and begging to go along, but their mother was adamant.   
“So how are we gonna do this, Shrek?” Donkey asked as they walked. “First, how we even gonna get there? You can’t find it by trying, so that kinda makes it hard. Even if we find it, then what are we gonna do?”  
“Don’t worry Donkey,” the ogre said, walking along with a pleased smile. “You just chatter happily with the guards, and the ladies should immediately duck behind the tree that the princess is tied to. Let me do the rest. Oh, and don’t look.”  
“Shrek, are you gonna fart? Cause if you plan to gas ‘em out, I don’t want to be standing there with my mouth open…”  
“Donkey, aim yourself away from me, and the girls can be behind the tree, rescuing the princess.”  
“I’m not sure she’s a princess,” Aurora said. “The witch said that she was the immortal spirit Helene. And what’s that about not being able to find it if you’re trying?”  
“It’s just part of the spell,” the ogre answered nonchalantly. “No worries, we’ll get there. See, I won’t be looking for the princess, I’ll be looking for a place to poop. Now, beautiful singing, a unicorn, elves and dwarves working together, all in a magical glen, now that’s a place every ogre wants to bless in his own special way.”  
“Shrek, are you serious? That’s just nasty,” the little donkey exclaimed.  
“I agree!” Aurora exclaimed. “Sir Ogre, we need another plan!”  
“Did you bring a weapon?” the ogre asked.  
“No.”  
“Do you have great magical powers?”  
“No, but Maleficent does, but she can’t use them unless she’s babysitting for you, and your wife wouldn’t let the kids come along.”  
Maleficent gave Aurora a disgusted look, but the little donkey looked delighted. “I count as a kid!” he exclaimed happily. “I’m the noisiest kid you ever heard! Work that magic!”  
“We will bear that in mind,” the ogre decided. “Now, let’s find that musical outhouse!”  
Donkey and Aurora groaned, as the ogre strode forward boldly, proclaiming, “OH, OH, oh, hoh, oh… I’ve been holding it in all morning, I need a nice, special place!” The fairy sighed sadly, wondering how and why life had brought her to this low level. Wasn’t she born of royalty in White Castle? On her own she had become the most powerful fairy in the Moors, and forever on her own it seemed, she had learned a variety of powerful magical spells. Listening to Aurora and Donkey bemoan the potential stinky disasters that the ogre was planning, she was pondering why some sort of karmic energy was suddenly flowing so strongly as they inadvertently stepped into the magical glade. The fairy wasn’t surprised, she had suspected that the ogre had planned his approach in just such a way, but Aurora and the little donkey were astounded when they rudely intruded into the magical glen.   
“Oh, excuse us!” Aurora exclaimed as a trained reflex. She always apologized for being rude.  
The guards put down their cards and flagons of tea. Their eyes flared open in terror at the sight of the ogre, who proudly proclaimed, “Oh, this is the perfect spot to roll a nice morning steamer!”  
“Oh, I say, you revolting ogre!” one of the elven guards exclaimed. “Go somewhere else!”  
“No time for that!” the ogre stated, and began loosening his belt. “This one feels like a growler!”  
“NO!” the dwarf exclaimed, leaping up and slamming his visor down. “Strike! Strike now! Don’t let it get a blast at us!”  
“So, does poop stick to you?” the ogre asked the elven guards, “That leather armor looks perfect for an unsanitary wipekin. If so, than you’d better hand me some of those big leaves over there in a hurry!”  
“Barbarian woman!” one of the elven guards addressed Aurora, “Take your creatures away now, or we shall be obliged to remove you by force!” Then he gagged, “Especially take your ogre away!”  
“Why does everyone keep calling me that?” Aurora exclaimed in mild annoyance. “I’m a princess dressed in deerskin, not a barbarian!”  
“Haha!” the ogre bellowed, hitching his thumbs into his pants, “I’m nobody’s ogre! I’m my own man! And I’ll make my choices as I see fit, thank you very much!”  
Maleficent realized what the ogre was doing, and while Aurora protested, “Why do you think he’s my ogre?” she quickly slipped past the guards and had only the unicorn to contend with. It lowered its horn, a glowing blue light emitting from it, and she prepared a defensive spell. Since she didn’t want to harm the creature, but rather just to avoid getting speared by it, she thought perhaps to put it and the guards to sleep. She wasn’t completely surprised that it didn’t work, as there was a rumor that unicorns had a powerful resistance to magic. The only real surprise was when the little donkey, unnoticed in the activity due to its humble appearance and low proximity to the ground, slipped behind the unicorn and bit down on its tail. Giving an amazing sound, the unicorn spun around, apparently forgetting about the fairy in its haste to deal with the rude little donkey. Quickly, the fairy removed the blindfold from the captive’s eyes, and as the chains fell away she heard a sweet voice talking to her, and shouts of disappointment and indignation from the guards.  
“Thank you,” the beautiful spirit said, lifting her freed hands and gesturing in blessing at the winged woman. The fairy would have liked to have responded, but instead she simply smiled and nodded.  
“Now look what you’ve done!” the dwarf accused. “We’ll never get her back in those chains!”  
“We must go tell the Elvenqueen that a strange assemblage of persons has freed the captive,” one of the elves told him.  
“Why did you have her tied up to begin with?” Aurora asked. “The witch said that she was merely unlucky.”  
“But we were lucky,” the dwarf answered, “This was a sweet job.”  
Then the ogre roared, and between the stench and the noise, the guards all chose to run, including the unicorn.   
“So, pretty lady,” the donkey asked, “Why were you chained up over there?”  
“I was unlucky enough to be on the losing side of an argument,” she said, “An argument for which there is no defense. The Elvenqueen thinks that I am interested in her husband, and so ordered me tied up out here.”  
“Uh,” the donkey asked, “Are you after her husband?”  
“No,” she answered, “I was after the queen, but she is quick to judge and to anger.”  
“Oh, all right then,” the donkey answered, enjoying the freed spirit’s patting of his head.   
She addressed all of them, “I am in your debt for having freed me. As my way of saying thank you,” Helene said, “I will grant each of thee a small wish.”  
Shrek jumped up and shouted, “Oh! Me first! I want a great big sandwich! The biggest, smelliest meatball sandwich that ever was!” The newly freed spirit laughed and with a flick of her wrist, the air was filled with the smell of burnt pork mixed with fried garlic and onions as a greasy sandwich the size of a bathtub appeared in the grateful ogre’s hands. His eyes shone with happiness as everyone else choked on the smell and he took a big bite. “Excellent!” the ogre concluded.  
“Shrek! You big stupid meatball! You just wasted your wish on a sandwich!” the donkey shouted. “That’s so stupid I’m surprised even you did it!”  
“Not really,” the ogre said, chewing with his mouth open. “I would have wished for a babysitter, but now I’ve already found two. I’ve got five children and a beautiful wife, and a stump hut in a swamp. I’ve got a good friend,” he smiled and patted the donkey’s head, “And that only leaves the giant sandwich.”  
“Well,” the donkey said, “I’m gonna wish for wings and big pot of gold! I’m going to be a rich flying donkey!”   
“So be it,” Helene smiled, and big grey feathery wings sprouted from the donkey’s back; in front of him, a black cauldron of coins appeared. She laughed as the happy little creature ran around the pot in circles and tried to take off. Then she turned to Aurora and said, “For you, my dear. What would you wish for?”  
“I wish for a new age; one where peace is widespread, with none of that constant bickering between dwarves, elves and fairies! Men all live together in harmony, and the world is a safe place to live, work, and play. Trolls, goblins, and other monsters live quietly in the mountains and don’t bother anyone else. I wish for peace on earth.” She was going to add more but noticed that Helene stood there looking stunned and everyone else was staring at her.  
Donkey spoke first, “Uh, that’s a very unselfish wish,” he said, “A very big, huge, enormous unselfish wish.” He looked over at the freed spirit, “Can you grant a wish like that?”  
“It is as you say, little furry friend,” Helene answered. “That is a grand wish indeed. Perhaps if both of you put your wishes together it might be possible to accomplish,” she explained, looking at the fairy and the princess, “Since your silent friend has not yet made her wish.”  
Aurora took her love’s hand and said, “Will you wish it with me? What a wonderful gift to give the world!”   
Maleficent smiled at Aurora’s enthusiasm and nodded. She couldn’t really say no, without disappointing Aurora terribly and feeling like, and indeed, being, the evil force that prevented peace on earth. The princess turned back to Helene, and told her that was what they both wished for. Maleficent silently sighed, eyeing the donkey’s new wings. I would have rather had those, she thought. Unbroken wings would be much more useful. Indeed, she sighed, I would rather have the damn sandwich. But Aurora’s eyes were glittering with goodness and happiness, as she exclaimed with delight.  
“Is that what you wish, as well?” Helene asked Maleficent, touching her gently on the arm, magical twinkles generated at the spot where her hand rested and traveling like a river through her body. This was her chance, to make a different choice. Many things could change, Helene implied, none of what currently existed needed to stay the way it was. The touch was magical and full of possibilities; including simply walking away from this mortal life altogether, and becoming the lover of an immortal spirit. There were other planes of existence beside the Prime Material and the Abyss. There were beautiful places, too, realms of wonder where time ran differently and there were new forms of magic to discover. An image floated into her mind, of a timeless place where all forms of knowing were accessible, and flowers bloomed in colors that did not exist in the material plane. Higher levels of magic, more complicated forms of spiritual understanding, and an eternal youth under the twilight skies where dwelt the gods themselves was offered to her. This was her chance, she realized, to learn and experience things unknowable any other way, and this opportunity would never come again. To speak to the gods themselves… She was briefly tempted, but shook her head no. The quicker she refused and the less she thought about what she was rejecting, the easier it was to say no. “Are you certain?” Helene asked again, her hand resting on the fairy’s arm, “Once the wish is made, it cannot be undone, and you need not choose the princess’ vision or mine, but rather something of your own desire.” The fairy forced herself to not think about what she was rejecting, and to nod her assent to Aurora. “Very well,” she said softly, with a hint of regret, and Maleficent felt a little tingle of ecstasy mixed with deep wistfulness, flutter through her. Something changed, and she felt it; a seismic, volcanic twist in the magical force field, but she had no idea what it was. She embraced Aurora in return when the excited princess threw her arms around her in joy, and leapt about. “I thank you again for freeing me,” the spirit said, and vanished in a wisp of light and clouds. The wind blew and she was gone. The fairy sighed, cherishing her brief sight of Elysium and trying not to regret her choice. Instead, she set the temptation aside and smiled anyway, while Aurora danced with celebratory joy.   
“That’s one whopper of a wish,” the donkey observed. “How’s that lady gonna do all that?”  
“By changing time and fate to coincide with the princess’ wish,” the ogre said, sitting down on a stump and taking another big bite of his sandwich, “And she’s not going to do all that work, she’s going to change things so that other people do all that. Immortal spirits have more important things to do.”  
“How do you know that?” the donkey asked.  
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” the ogre said, looking at the surprised princess and the unhappy fairy, who wasn’t smiling when Aurora wasn’t looking at her. He belched loudly and broke off a piece of his great big saucy sandwich, and offered it to the fairy, “And somebody’s got to re-spin all that fate. That takes time, too. Ain’t gonna happen overnight, now is it? That’s why I’d rather have a sandwich. Especially after seeing the one the dwarf was eating yesterday. I thought about it all night long.”  
Suspecting she knew exactly who that person was, the fairy accepted the proffered sandwich, and took a bite. It smelled like a giant garlicky greaseball, but it tasted rather good, with a tangy, savory undertone.   
“Oh,” Aurora said, “I hadn’t thought of that. But it’s worth it, isn’t it?” The ogre shrugged and the fairy was picking a very large piece of garlic out of her bit of sandwich. She wasn’t wild about onions, garlic or pork, but the sauce, the roast beef, and something else in there was quite tasty.   
“Don’t let them get you down, princess!” the donkey said, who had been quiet for as long as he could tolerate. “They’re just a stinky old ogre and a disgruntled fairy. Don’t listen to them! You wished for something that helps everybody…”  
Aurora thought about things, and wondered how the whole of everything might work. They were great, deep thoughts that hadn’t ever gone through her head before, and they were really quite weighty and convoluted. She had wished for peace, and that was supposed to be a joyful state. Then she knit her brow in deep thought; wondering if perhaps she had not done the right thing. She meant well…  
She was thinking while the donkey was jumping up and down, trying to teach himself to fly, and the ogre made loud yummy noises, finishing the last of the giant sandwich. The fairy couldn’t finish what she had, and handed the rest back to the ogre, who said, “Are you sure you don’t want to keep it?” She shook her head, no, a little of that enormous, saucy meatball had gone a long way, and she had no desire to smell like the ogre. “All right,” the ogre said, and popped it into his mouth. “See you tomorrow night,” he smiled. “Oh, my wife is going to be so happy! We’re going on a three-night wingding! Now that’s my real wish come true!” Standing up and belching again, he picked up the pot of gold and strode off, the donkey running after him chattering all the way.   
“Shrek, now those onions and garlic ain’t gonna make you fart, is it? I don’t want to be anywhere around when those green gas clouds start rolling…”  
“That’s why we’re not going on our trip starting tonight,” the ogre laughed. “I’ve got a while to get it out of my system!”  
Still deep in thought, Aurora took the fairy’s hand, and walked back to the witch’s hut. “So,” the witch said, smoking one of her bone pipes, blowing smoke rings, “You freed Helene.”  
“Yes, we freed her,” Aurora answered. “With help from the ogre, and we have to babysit for them for a three-day time period starting tomorrow night. She gave us each a small wish, and the ogre wished for a sandwich, the donkey got wings and a big pot of gold, but Maleficent and I wished for peace and harmony throughout the land. Now I’m confused.”  
The witch laughed and put more dried weed in her pipe, observing the perplexed princess and the sulky fairy, who was not confused, just looking glum as she sat, her head leaning onto one palm. No repaired, useable wings, no trip to Elysium, just a confused princess and three days of babysitting the stinky little ogres to look forward to. Her expression when Aurora wasn’t looking made the witch cackle again. “Indeed. Could there be anything more confusing? Did you define peace? For how long? What is this peace? From whence will it come? How did you define good and evil?” She eyed Aurora as the princess once again plunged into contemplation. “It is well to think about these things, but preferably before we act.”  
“Are you angry at us? Did I do the wrong thing?”  
“Things happen when it is time for them to happen, and this too shall pass.” Still confused, Aurora frowned, and then the witch added, “The only thing I’m angry about is that you didn’t think to bring me any of the magical meatball sandwich! You know I like to eat! Garlic and onions, savory sauces of a divine origin…” the old witch sighed and closed her eyes as if tasting a memory.  
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t think about that,” the princess apologized, and she was relieved to see that the bag of wool by the spinning wheel wasn’t completely overflowing, in fact it was only a little more full than when they had left. “How is that possible?” she asked, pointing at it. “Shouldn’t everything have changed?”  
“No,” the witch smiled slyly, “Because with very few exceptions, princess, the big picture turns out more or less the same.”  
“How can that be?” Aurora asked in amazement.  
“Because everyone else wishes for the pot of gold,” the witch answered, “Very few people are wise enough to know that they’re better off with the sandwich.”  
“Maybe,” the princess answered, feeling quite confused, “But I did figure out why the Elvenqueen had her chained up there to begin with. She looked like she was about to steal my girlfriend away with her!”  
The witch cackled loudly and agreed, “I’m almost surprised that she didn’t,” she laughed, looking over at the unhappy fairy, while Aurora looked concerned, “Yet another lesson, princess! But luckily for you, it’s impossible to steal the love of anyone who doesn’t want to be stolen.”   
Indeed, the fairy thought wistfully. The image of Elysium came again into her mind, and she sighed. That was another level, an entire remove above everything else she could ever know, and she had refused it simply because she loved Aurora and didn’t want to hurt her or disagree. She wondered why being good always had to hurt; from being chained up and sung to by Snow White to giving up a chance at immortality. Yes, she admitted it to herself, that was what Helene had offered her, immortality. She could refuse for love of Aurora only because she hadn’t let herself think about it. Now that she had ample time to reflect, she didn’t want to think about it, because regret would plant a seed in her heart that would grow into something untamable. She opened her eyes and saw Aurora’s consternation, and the old hag looking at her with something like respect and approval.


	32. Three Petrified Trolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Baba Yaga's hut definitely gets around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of fun and fluff.

Chapter 32  
Three Petrified Trolls

The witch sent them into the forest to gather firewood, a chore they were delighted to be assigned. It meant that they would spend all day together out of sight of the witch. They wandered further afield than usual into the forest, and found something unusual; three enormous trolls turned to stone. The stone was cracked and brush was growing over and around the bases of what were now big ugly troll statues. White daisies and purple fireweed waved in the breeze, while little buttercups grew everywhere along the edge of the clearing. A tenacious ivy plant wound its way around one of the troll’s legs, and was working tendrils up into its butt. They stared at the frozen scene of three enormous trolls caught by the sun, and marveled at the absolute ugliness of trolls. “They’re almost as ugly as the witch, and even uglier than ogres,” Aurora suddenly observed. “I wonder if they are any relation?” The fairy laughed silently, and nodded. At least as stone statues they didn’t have crotchroaches, she laughed to herself, and Aurora caught her meaning. Then Aurora put her armload of firewood down and said, looking at the position of one of the troll’s hands, “Lay down in the troll’s hands, and I’ll give you a quick netherkiss.” The fairy smiled at the idea, and pulling her rag dress up, or what was left of it, she reclined in the troll’s big, stone hands. Having sex in the cottage was partly to annoy the witch, but they enjoyed it much more without her, when they were far away from the old hag’s gaze. The fairy’s legs and wings spread apart, she smiled and giggled soundlessly at the woman next to her, who was already stroking her gently, with her strong, nimble hands. Girl no longer, Maleficent thought, princess no longer. Aurora was a strong, wise young woman of twenty-four, her body shaped and hardened by the last six years of performing chores and hard work. She seemed no more a princess, but more like a tribal medicine woman, with a functional garment made of leather, sturdy boots, medicine bag, and homemade weapons which would have made her appear to strangers as though she had never seen a palace in her life, but had been trained from birth by the wild men of the North. Maleficent was in awe of just how much Aurora had changed, yet in some ways remained the same. Sighing, she enjoyed her caresses, while also being acutely aware that she owed this young woman her life. She had been dead, and Aurora brought her back, and restored her to health. As they walked and worked together in the sunshine and moonlight, Maleficent was still delicate, but she was now quickly recovering her strength, as well. She still dared not speak or use magic, with the witch’s spies everywhere, so she showed her love and affection with her hands and eyes, and sometimes with her heartbeat and breathing when they lay together.   
Lying back on the stone hands, she sighed, and felt Aurora’s fingers and hands gliding over her inner thighs, and the wonderful sensation of her lips and tongue moving closer. She always kissed her way up from the knee, occasionally the toes, if they had time, which built anticipation nicely. Closing her eyes, she delighted in the sensations Aurora was creating, and lost herself in a moment of bliss. After her peak, she opened her eyes, and was quite surprised to see a well-dressed little Halfling fellow, with his back to them, picking up their firewood. She tapped Aurora on the shoulder, who looked up with a seductive expression in her bright blue eyes. “Shall I do it again? You do taste delicious, dear.”  
Maleficent pointed at the Halfling, dressed in a waistcoat and a pair of very nice trousers, his jacket having split tails, and made of a high quality brocade and velvet. His feet were of course bare, and he had a dagger at his side that he was using for a sword. He had thought that he was quite alone, and upon hearing a voice, he turned around and shouted in surprise, dropping all the wood in his arms. Seeing a deerskin-clad blond wild woman giving pleasure to a dark fairy dressed in rags and reclining on the petrified hands of a troll turned to stone wasn’t at all what he had expected to see. “Little man,” Aurora said, “That is our firewood. Please leave it alone.”  
“Excuse me, very, very sorry,” he mumbled, trying not to stare, and quickly ran off, leaving not only the firewood he had been trying to collect, but everything he had already been carrying.  
Aurora lifted Maleficent down, and said, “No more pleasures at the moment for you, my dear, but it would appear that our little friend has just finished one of our chores for us by donating to us his firewood!” The fairy smiled knowingly and held up four fingers, and Aurora nodded. “There is not much chance that he is alone, and has probably gone to tell his friends what he has seen. Come along then, let’s take the wood and go.” The fairy laughed silently, and seemed quite delighted. Not that Aurora could have known, or cared very much, but the Halfling fellow never quite did get around to telling his friends what he had seen. He saw many, many things of late, some strange and curious, others very disturbing. Besides, they had much more pressing problems. Nor did Maleficent and Aurora ever mention it again. They too, had more immediate concerns, for which the fairy found herself quite grateful. She thought of the cursed belt and the madness it had caused. There was no way she ever wanted to feel like that again.


	33. Cinderella and Her Prince at the Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snow White continues to try to find a suitable princess for her youngest son Phillip, and throws a magnificent gala, inviting every girl in the area.

Chapter 33  
Cinderella and Her Prince at the Ball

Snow White continued to try and interest her rather recalcitrant youngest son in finding an eligible princess. Rose Red and Aurora had been gone for six years, with no one ever finding a trace of them. Snow White was certain that they had perished in the woods, eaten by that horrible, stinky old witch no doubt, and that it was time for Phillip to move on. So in between his efforts at bachelorhood and apprenticing himself to the wizard, she did manage to schedule some gala events, all eagerly looked forward to by the princesses in neighboring kingdoms. Phillip was quite a catch, if she did say so herself, and surely there would be one girl with the power to sway him from his lonely vigils! The best way, she knew, to get him to attend was to insist that her husband insist that he attend, and that was always doable!  
So her latest party, a huge event where she ordered every eligible maiden in the kingdom to attend, was set to be the biggest gala yet.  
So, reluctantly, Phillip found himself unexpectedly shuttled into a ballroom full of girls, all eyeing him like he was a prize horse at the fair. “Sorry, son,” King John said. “After this we will be leaving for over six months, so just try to smile and act like the whole event is at least a little enjoyable. Your friends are all here, and so is the extended family. It’s been so long since we’ve visited with Uncle Alfred! He is getting on in years, you know, and it would be nice if we both spent some time with him.”  
“Is that him, talking with Lords Elrond and Elwood?” If only Lord Elwood didn’t have a giant invisible white rabbit he constantly talked to! Snow White’s forest friends stayed outdoors, but Harvey went wherever Elwood went, and protestations to the contrary were utterly useless.  
Since the dreadful, rude dwarves were no longer present, their Elven friends visited much more often. Although King John suspected that Snow White had freed the dwarves, she denied it, and they were gone. He’d put out a reward for their heads, but as of yet, nothing. They were probably hiding in their mountains, never planning on coming out again. He still thought it was too good for them. “Yes, I do believe so. Speaking of Elven and Halfelven guests, they brought some unusual delights with them. We have some fine pipeweed all the way from the Halfling territories, and a truly excellent cherry mead that you really must try…”  
“Wait,” Phillip said, “Is that Leonard talking with a girl?”  
“He always dances with the girls, Phillip,” John laughed. “That fellow really is a fantastic dancer!”  
“Yes, he does always dance with them, but he never sits down and talks with them for hours on end,” Phillip said. “Whatever is he doing?”  
“Perhaps you should stop hiding in the throne room talking with your dad and go find out,” John laughed.  
“I can’t,” Phillip protested. “If Mother sees me she will set up one of those horrid meet and greet lines!”  
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, it’s nearly midnight and most of the guests are already drunk! Just go out and try to have some fun!”  
“But, Dad!”  
“Don’t but dad me! We aren’t home for long between battles, so let’s just have some fun!” The king waved to several friends, and then caught Leonard’s eye. He waved the young lord over, and said, “Let’s just find out.” And then he looked over where Rudyard was sitting, smoking his pipe and drinking from a tall goblet. The wizard was trying to get his attention, but the king wanted a break from dreary topics, and was looking for some levity, so he was hoping to avoid the wizard. Greeting Leonard and the absolutely beautiful young lady with him was the perfect cover for not going over and talking to Rudyard. He was pleased that rather than stand by himself and risk being abducted to a princesses on parade dance by Snow White, Phillip was following him.  
Phillip was quite amazed by the young lady’s beauty. She had that supernatural look that usually meant elven or fairy ancestry. He had also never seen her before. King John greeted her kindly, and seeing the wizard look like he was about to get up and join them, immediately excused himself, saying that he needed to talk to Rudyard. Sighing, the king left them and went to talk to the old sorcerer. Let the young people have a pleasant chat, he thought, without old fellows and gloomy subjects.  
“Phillip, where have you been all evening?” Leonard asked.  
“Oh, talking with Father.”  
Leonard was about to introduce him to the young lady, when the clock struck midnight, whereupon the beautiful girl startled and looked shocked. “Excuse me, I have to go!” she exclaimed, and ran away. In her haste, she bumped into the wizard, and lost a shoe.  
“Well, who was that?” Phillip asked.  
“I was about to introduce you. I was hoping we could help her. She lives with some dreadful people.”  
“I don’t know, and I’d never seen her before.”  
“That’s because she’s extremely shy, and something of a mentally abused shut-in. I talked with her all night, and its’ such a truly sad story.”  
“I noticed you weren’t dancing.”  
The wizard approached them and said, “It appears your new friend has left unexpectedly and lost a shoe.” The king was with them, and holding a glittering crystal slipper in his hand.  
“From the sounds of things around their house, I don’t think she can afford to lose it,” Leonard said, taking the shoe from the king. “Let’s make a game of it,” he suggested. “We’ll simply go around and try the shoe on all the girls and see who it fits.”  
“Leonard, that’s a terrible idea,” Phillip laughed. “How many girls do you think are in this city?”  
“I don’t know.”  
“At least several thousand that are worthy of the title girl or lady,” the king laughed. “I’ve a much better idea. Let’s just have another party, and see if she shows up. If you know she’s a local girl, then there’s no need to invite all of these out-of-towners, we’ll just have a quick party, and hopefully your new friend makes an appearance.”  
“Or,” Leonard answered mischievously, “We look for the girl with the matching shoe!” He held up the glittering glass slipper. “I haven’t seen many like this,” he noted. Phillip hadn’t either.  
“Oh, I suppose, it could be a lark,” he laughed and agreed to go on his friend’s wild goose chase.  
“However,” the wizard said, changing the subject, “It is in matters of preparedness that we must truly concentrate. One by one many of our surrounding lands have fallen into darkness, and what lurks on the other side of both mountain ranges will not bring you joy. Already the lands to the south are watched, and orcs and goblins multiply in the hills…”  
Ah, yes, the king thought to himself. Another fine evening with Rudyard the Wizard.  
Cinderella’s fine evening had ended abruptly and unexpectedly. She had been dancing and talking with Leonard, the Prince’s best friend, and then she had lost track of time. If only she could have met the Prince before her fairy enchantments ended! But, at least she had a good time, and she could go home and remember it. There would be so much to tell her three pixie friends when she saw them again. Such wonderful fairy godmothers, she thought, as she clutched her magic crystal shoe. She was so lucky!


	34. Vasalisa the Wise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The original fairy tale about the Baba Yaga told from a slightly different perspective.

Chapter 34  
Vasalisa The Wise

“Ah, you wretches, behave yourselves, we have company!” the Yaga snapped at them as they lay together in the evening, limbs entwined. Their clothes were soaking in the great cauldron, as they always were on Laundry Day. Muttering a spell, she made their bodies invisible except for their hands. “Now mind where you put those!” she ordered them. “I want to see both hands fully visible at all times, on both of you! I don’t want to hear any noise from either one of you, either! So mind yourselves!”  
Wondering whatever the witch could be referring to, they were surprised when a young girl, who introduced herself as Vasalisa, entered the cottage. If she hadn’t been ordered into silence earlier, Aurora would have called to her to run away, the witch ate people! But she remained silent, and waited. It seemed the girl had no fire, and had come for a flame. Aurora would have simply given her one of the tinderboxes the witch kept, preferably the pretty silver one that had belonged to Prince Phillip, and didn’t seem to match anything in the witch’s collection of horrible objects. But that was not the way the witch did things. Not at all.   
“And why did you let the fire go out?” the witch asked. “That was an ill-advised thing to do.”  
“My stepmother and stepsisters let it go out while I was in the forest.”  
“Why were you in the forest?”  
“I gather berries and mushrooms to eat, and sticks to sell as firewood in the castle and the towns,” the girl answered.   
“Why?” the old witch asked, sniffing the air around the girl. The smell was delicious, and she decided that peasant girl would make a tasty supper. “What does your father do?”  
“He was a soldier,” she answered. “He used to be part of King Stephan’s army, but was killed fighting the wicked fairy.”  
“Yes, that evil dark fairy cost a number of people their lives, and caused destruction of many, many kinds. And so now your family is poor?” the witch asked.  
“Yes, very,” the girl answered, “We sold our horses and cow, now there is nothing left but a few chickens.”   
“I see,” the witch laughed, “But, if you wish for me to help you there is work to be done.” She looked over at where her invisible servants had been waiting patiently and quietly observing, as they had been ordered, and added, “Our actions are like ripples in a pond, and extend farther than the first stone.”  
The fairy understood exactly what the old witch was talking about, and had already long ago regretted her ill-thought out curse. She didn’t appreciate being browbeaten with it, and had a terrible feeling that the witch was going to justify eating Vasalisa, or perhaps simply enjoy eating her more, by indirectly blaming Maleficent.   
The girl was immediately ordered to do the same sorts of chores that were normally assigned to Aurora and Maleficent, who were detectible only by their hands, which they were told to keep visible at all times while they worked. The witch of course, had more tasks set for them. Silently, they watched and worked, and late in the evening, the witch ordered the girl to sort all the corn into fresh and moldy, at which point her “invisible servants,” as she called the pairs of hands that magically floated around, would grind the corn. The penalty for failure was to be eaten. Pleased with herself, the witch took off in her flying cauldron, cackling as only she could, while the girl started the task. Quickly realizing how hard it would be to finish before dawn, the girl took a little doll out of her pocket and started to cry.   
Having a human soul was still quite an adjustment for the fairy. Although she was truly half human, she had taken so much after her mother that all but the most superficial humanity had been lost within and upon her. Guilt and regret were new to her, but Aurora had helped her understand those emotions. The development of a conscience was another new sensation entirely. It was a permanent thing, and didn’t easily come and go like the other transient feelings. She had been struggling with the notion that others actually had thoughts and feelings that were equal to her own. She had never thought that all of those people, those crawling, grasping, dirty manikins had been anything like her. Why would they be? They were earthbound ants, and only knew such a little of the ways to exist! Then, when she had realized that Stephan had so little within his spirit; that his depth was nowhere near hers, that she had dismissed them all. Even, she realized, the one that she had come to love. Before her own murder, before she had awoken at the witch’s house, and become utterly dependent upon Aurora for everything, she hadn’t ever considered the girl an equal, but more of a beloved pet. But now she owed Aurora her life, and had part of her soul. The milk she drank had contained a dense mixture of soul-stuff, and although she now loved Aurora in more ways than she could ever have imagined before, she was experiencing new, disquieting thoughts as well. She had a very disturbing moment while spinning fate, just ordinary sheep’s wool that could have come from any place, where she saw herself and all the wrong she had done; from the eyes of a soldier. Once she had seen it, she could not un-see it, and it preyed upon her mind, egged on by the soul stuff that was now within her. All the wrong she had done… Everything from her enjoyment of watching Snow White beaten for Maleficent’s own naughty deeds to the widespread poverty and suffering she had visited upon King Stephan’s people, she slowly empathized with others, and realized why they saw her as a monster. It was why the witch had no pity upon her, and terrorized her with satisfied justice. She had a moment of understanding, from a peasant girl’s perspective, herself as a total villain, and didn’t like at all what she saw.   
The witch was gone, and so using what of her magic she dared, Maleficent blew life into the doll, which began to jump around and talk to the girl. The doll told the girl to get some sleep before the witch returned and busily sorted the corn. Aurora worried, and whispered, “The witch will find out!” In answer, the fairy kissed her cheek and smiled mischievously. Magic was widespread, the magical doll could have come from anywhere! Then, having a feeling of dread, that this wouldn’t work out very well, Aurora shook her head, although no one could see it, and kissed Maleficent’s shoulder. She had been aiming for her cheek, but they were having difficulty finding one another due to the invisibility. “Oh, why didn’t she just give us some clothes!” Aurora breathed into her ear. But again, that wasn’t the way the witch did things, not at all. Once their clothes were dry, they put them back on, the cloth becoming invisible along with their bodies.  
The next night, the witch, displeased because the girl had completed the horrible tasks given to her, assigned a truly impossible one; so that she would get to eat the child. She told her to separate poppy seeds from dirt. When the doll did the work, and the witch awoke the next morning to see it done, she was livid. Worse, she knew exactly how the feat had been accomplished. So she grudgingly gave the girl a stick with a talking skull on it, and within the skull glowed a continuous, red-orange fire. Wisely, the girl said thank you, took it, and ran away.  
After the girl left, the witch seemed to fly into a terrifying rage. Making her servants once again visible, she attacked Maleficent in a fury, whacking her repeatedly about the head and shoulders with her dirty old staff. “Stupid fairy! I’ll not be denied my dinner! See now what your punishment will be for defying me, and for using magic!” She looked around for the silver axe, but Aurora used it so often and for so many things that it had found a permanent place in her tool bag. So the witch took up an old iron blade, and ordered the fairy to kneel before her. Maleficent looked worried, like she was planning on running away, but looking back at Aurora, didn’t. Instead, she stood there, wavering in her indecision. “Come here, wretched fey woman! Now you lose those noisy wings and I will eat them! Be glad it’s not your head!” The witch lunged at her, and Maleficent ran; around the hut they went, the witch shrieking at her and bearing the dreadful rusty old knife, and the fairy running this way and that, dodging the witch’s clumsy slashes. Things were falling down everywhere, and Aurora knew who was going to have to clean them all up. This was also the worst possible way to remove the wings. There would be twenty slashes for each cut that severed a wing, causing an intolerable excess of fear and pain, inevitably resulting in screaming, an eventuality the witch seemed to be looking forward to. Deprived of her dinner of peasant girl, the witch had every intention of feasting upon fairy. The witch was not fond of Maleficent, and nothing that the princess had been able to do had seemed to change that. They had served her for six years, and their mutual dislike had not faded with time. There was no doubt in Aurora’s mind that the old hag would have killed the fairy long before if it weren’t for their agreements and Aurora’s unceasing efforts to prevent it. But now the situation had spiraled too far out of control.  
“Wait just a moment,” Aurora interrupted, blocking the witch’s access around the table. “I have the silver axe; I can cut the wings off, chop them up, and cook them for you! Lie down and relax, and I will serve you dinner.”  
“Eh?” the witch said, not quite believing what she was hearing. Then, with a grin she accepted Aurora’s offer. “So be it. I want to see this! Remember, anything she says counts against her.”  
“Of course,” Aurora said, taking Maleficent’s hand. “Don’t worry dear.” The witch flopped down on her bed and watched as Aurora prepared a tea using the petals of the poppies whose seeds the witch had made Vasalisa gather and sort. To it she added more herbs and flowers. “Drink this, darling,” she said, handing it to the fairy, who looked frightened, nervous, and most unhappy. “Trust me. I know you’re terrified, and I would be too in your place, but please trust me. I’m going to help you.”   
Maleficent took the tea, and looked hesitant. Did Aurora have a plan? What was it? Her options were to trust Aurora’s plan, or to simply cut and run for her life at that moment, voiding all agreements with the witch, which would render her little more than a runaway slave, forever cursed as an oathbreaker and always looking over her shoulder in fear of the witch.  
“What’s taking so long?” the witch demanded. “Less mixing, more whacking! And I don’t want tea or any damn vegetables!”  
“I’m preparing both a marinade and a poultice for afterwards,” Aurora told her. “I have to be prepared ahead of time, don’t I? You want them flavored nicely, don’t you? And besides, vegetables are good for you. Maybe you should eat more green vegetables, healthful fruits and nuts and less people.”  
The witch grunted and watched her mix the herbs for the poultice into a mash of sweet-smelling slush, while the fairy grew sleepier and sleepier from the poppy tea, finally lying down on their furs, and falling asleep. Another bowl held the liquids which were going to flavor the fairy’s wings. Taking the silver axe and the herbal mush, she carefully amputated the broken, tattered wings, and immediately staunched the bleeding with her herbs and bandages. Most of the old bandages had been stitched together to keep Aurora’s old traveling gown from falling apart, so that Maleficent had something to wear, but she saved a few, in case they were ever needed. The fairy barely stirred during the surgery, and long before she awoke, the wings had been cut up, seasoned, breaded, fried, and served to the witch, who told Aurora she was disappointed that the fairy was not awake to watch her eat them. That surely would have resulted in some wailing and howling, and hopefully she would get to eat the rest of her.  
“They’re better while they’re hot,” Aurora suggested, and indeed, the witch gobbled down, bones and all, the tasty fairy wings.  
“Delicious!” the witch agreed, licking her fingers and smacking her lips, “Absolutely delicious! I have some more of those wings around here somewhere… Yes, Clecie the Lovestruck’s wings! I should have you find them for me and cook them up.”  
“Sounds like a treat you should save for later,” Aurora suggested, immediately planning on finding the wings herself, and attaching them to the fairy if at all possible, and since they were direct blood relatives, it might be. “And besides,” Aurora said cheerfully, “It’s all in my special herbs and spices that they tasted good to begin with. Wings are bony, and have to be done right.”  
“I know that,” the witch agreed. “You’re a good cook. I should have you prepare more food and send that lazy fairy outside to do more chores. I’m sick of watching her sitting at that spinning wheel…”  
When Maleficent awoke, she felt groggy, and knew that her wings were gone. Where they had been was a thick, sticky, medicine-smelling poultice across her back. A tremendous sense of loss washed over her, and she momentarily despaired utterly. Tears sprung to her eyes, and she began crying almost before she was even aware of it. Shock mixed with pain as she wept, biting her lip to avoid making a sound. Unfair, she sobbed to herself. It was cruelly unjust of the witch to have done this to her. Why, she wondered, had this hideous, unnatural hardship once again been visited upon her? Stephan had robbed her of her wings what seemed like long ago, and her beloved Aurora had given them back to her, only to take them away again, and feed them to the witch. Like father like daughter, she thought. Was their relationship destined to be similar? Would Aurora now distance herself, avoid her, and eventually turn on her altogether? Love had a wicked way of turning into hatred, of that she knew all too well. But I love her, the fairy thought miserably, and I thought she loved me, too. Maybe humans aren’t capable of loving as deeply as I do, she thought. But she knew that wasn’t truly so. She loved more deeply now that she had a human soul than she had before, and this made it hurt so much worse. She missed flying, but she hadn’t been able to fly on her broken wings anyway. If she had to lose a body part, a mostly useless one was preferable, although she was in the habit of flapping her wings when she climaxed. That had felt ever so nice, even if she couldn’t fly on her broken wings, and she knew how much that flapping annoyed the witch. She was thirsty, and wondered how long she had been asleep. She was alone, both Aurora and the witch were gone. She lifted her head slightly, and saw that a cup of water and some nectar-filled flowers had been left within easy reach. Moving her arms caused pain in her back, so although she wanted the water, she moved her arm from the elbow only and put one of the juice blossoms in her mouth. Fruity and fragrant, it soothed her need for fluids and provided some fairy sparkles, which made her go back to sleep, and have pleasant thoughts and dreams.  
When she awoke from the sleepy fantasies and sweet oblivion brought on from the blossoms, Aurora was sitting beside her, gently touching her hair with a loving hand. Seeing her eyes open, Aurora lay down next to her and whispered, “That was a brave thing you did, helping that girl. I’m proud of you, and I wish I could have thought of a better way, but I didn’t. I’m also sorry that I had to cut your wings off, but that was the only thing I could think of to save you. If I couldn’t distract the witch she was going to hack at you until you screamed, and I couldn’t let that happen. Forgive me, beloved.” Aurora felt horrible about what had happened, and the choice she had to make. Even worse, she had done the same thing her father had done, albeit for a very different reason. She wondered if perhaps in the end, she was no better than he was, and that she had broken her vow of never hurting her fairy friend, as other humans had. She cried as she kissed Maleficent, and touched her hair. “I’m so sorry, my beloved. I promised never to hurt you, and I did…”  
Her back hurt, she was thirsty, she wanted to speak and she grieved the loss of her wings, but Maleficent still forgave Aurora, because she knew that no malice had gone into the act. Truthfully, she had hoped the witch wouldn’t figure out where the doll’s magic had come from, but in retrospect that had been unlikely. She had taken a chance, and failed. Perhaps it wasn’t truly a failure, she thought. The girl had escaped the witch with her life, and Maleficent’s wings had been mostly destroyed, anyway. And she liked Aurora’s admiration and respect. Still, now her wings were gone, forever; the witch had eaten them. The thought that Aurora had done the same thing to her that Stephan had, although for a different reason, went through her mind again as well. But this time, there was no deception, no cruelty, and most importantly, Aurora was still there to hold her. Maleficent would be this way for the rest of her life, and Aurora would share it with her, and they would still love each other. She went to push herself up, when Aurora reached over and gently lifted her.   
“You can sit up,” Aurora told her, “But you cannot lie on your back yet. The wounds are still open and the herbs are all wet…” She held her and then whispered softly, “Your mother’s wings are here somewhere. I have no idea where…” she looked around the witch’s cluttered mess of nasty items, “But I will find them, and I’ll sew them on you. Chances are they are still in good shape, so you’ll be able to fly again.” Assuming that they would reattach, Maleficent thought. But she nodded at Aurora’s enthusiasm, and held out some hope that the plan might work. Then Aurora continued, “There’s something else I’ve been meaning to show you. Oh, this will cheer you up!” She took the three little dolls out of her medicine bag, and showed them to the fairy, who instantly recognized one of her own feathers, and then their intertwined hair. “Someday, not now, but someday, we can have our own children! These are magic, and they will be a combination of both of us! Our children will be beautiful, and have your wings…” She paused, noticing the skeptical expression on the fairy’s face. They looked like they would be better used for fly fishing, she was thinking. “No, the witch gave them to me. We can…”  
Maleficent shook her head no. Absolutely not. Whatever further devilry the witch had in mind, she would not participate in it. Deprived of her anticipated dinner of grown fairy, the old hag might just be breeding and farming more. No, she shook her head, no, no, no! Aurora looked disappointed, but the fairy put the tiny hair dolls back into the princess’ hand and closed her fist over them. No. She watched Aurora put them back in her medicine bag.  
“We can talk about it later,” Aurora said. “I’ll just keep them for now. There is no need to decide anything tonight. When we’re free again, in less than a year, we will go home and talk about it then. I do want children someday, and definitely before I have my first gray hair.”  
Maleficent had no doubt that they would be having this discussion again, but her decision would not change. She did not trust the witch.  
Far, far away, in the formerly grim old keep of King Stephan, repairs were nearly complete, and the exterior of the castle had been painted a bluish-white that gleamed in the moonlight. Murals depicting the beauty of the Moors and Elven lands had been painted on the walls in the main halls, so that being indoors was not such a source of sadness for the young Queen when she returned. Stiff, dark carved wooden furniture was replaced or, if he thought Aurora might still want them, brightened with colorful, comfortable cushions, and the windows were opened, to admit both light and air. The long-abandoned gardens behind the castle had been replanted, and the greenery brought indoors with little potted trees and flowers. Phillip smiled, admiring his own handiwork. Between paint and flowers, he’d made a huge difference at minimum expense. Someday when the kingdom was less indebted, they could make more substantial improvements, but for now the castle was repaired, and cheery enough that a fairy would find it acceptable. When his men discovered a horrid, heavy old iron cage in the basement of the dungeon, and asked what they should do with it, he was filled with dread and loathing by the mere sight of the thing; and had a horrible sense of foreboding and evil around it. The cage was enormous, and someone, presumably Stephan, had made dangerous alterations in the foundation to put it there; removing it would involve making more huge holes in the lower edges of the castle. Both Phillip and his architects thought that would be a risky, and prohibitively expensive, venture. Nor could Phillip simply cast a spell on it to make it disappear or transform. Iron didn’t just burn fairies, as Maleficent had once told him and Aurora, it also prevented wizard’s spells and most other forms of sorcery. Rudyard had taught him some cantrips, illusions, and basic magic spells, but iron ruined them. Wizards weren’t burned by iron or cold steel, like fairies were, because they were only magic using humans, not magical creatures. So, not having any better options, they filled the dreadful chamber with dirt and sand, and walled it off.   
The project was completed just in time for his departure, to aid his father and the wizard in a battle. The foolish dwarves had roused a nest of dragons, in their desire to reclaim a long-lost gold, platinum, mithril and electrum mine and retake the hidden treasures. Everyone had warned them not to, but they did it anyway. It never worked well to leave live dragons out of a plan. But apparently the desire to mine for precious metals and gems easily overtook them. Phillip sighed when he thought about them; all the years of his childhood had been spent with ill-mannered dwarves at the dinner table spitting, guffawing, and grunting. He thought it was interesting how involved with metals they were, yet skeptical of magic, when the best metals were the most able to hold enchantments. Gold and silver were not only beautiful, but held and dissipated energy wonderfully. So did certain gems. One of Phillip’s own favorite pastimes was enchanting gems and seeing how much light he could store or condense as he passed beams through them. Jolts were even more fun, and he’d created a funny little statue that had flashing rubies for eyes, and delivered a mild shock when touched, which scared ignorant people thoroughly. But he certainly couldn’t cast a spell while holding a steel sword, he had to toss the weapon aside first. That was why most magical weapons were made of bronze. Someday he hoped to have a truly great enchanted sword made of mithril. Someday, he thought, looking at his own silver ring of protection, and his magical bronze sword, he was going to have gem-encrusted mithril versions. His father had such a sword, a mighty Holy Avenger, that weapon of righteousness favored by paladins. It glowed when King John willed it and smote any enemy, cutting through the toughest troll hides or dragon scales. But Phillip wasn’t really a warrior at all, he was a wizard who wielded a sword when he ran out of spells. He found fighting a bit dull and frequently dangerous, preferring to enchant and ensorcell. Storing spells in rings and other jewelry was highly efficient, as it replaced the necessity to carry around heavy tomes and delicate scrolls. That was the aspect of metallurgy that interested him; the magical and electrical properties of various metals and amalgams. Mithril not only held enchantment, but could amplify it, holding spells within the weapons themselves, which made such swords and items immensely powerful. Electrum had interesting properties, which wood dampened. Shields were sometimes made of wood, and would not only turn a hit from a non-magical blade, but could absorb certain types of enchantments, mostly low-quality religious ones that proper wizards seldom used. Orcs, lizard men shamans, goblin kings, and the like put such spells upon their weapons, while farmers and barbarians used large wooden shields to protect themselves against them. Platinum was excellent for retaining magic as well, even better than gold and silver, but not quite as flawlessly exquisite as mithril, which was also the rarest and most precious of all metals. Then he laughed aloud, and wondered if that was what dwarves were thinking of all the time, when they weren’t harassing elves and fairies, or making dreadful messes at someone else’s dinner table. Only about the metal, he then chuckled to himself, doubting that they appreciated the finer arts of sorcery, and being a wizard was awesome.


	35. Angel's Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora's years of selfless service to the Baba Yaga are rewarded with splendorous white angelic wings.

Chapter 35  
Angel’s Wings

The sickening swaying of the hut as it ran along on the chicken’s legs had ceased to bother Aurora, and she was able to sleep in spite of it. More used to the movement of flying, Maleficent had not been nearly as bothered by the motions, and slept easily, even when the hut was rocking violently as it danced wildly on its legs. Nonetheless, Aurora passed an uneasy night, thinking that she heard the cries of the wounded and the souls of the dead wailing outside the cottage. When the old witch came to fetch her in the morning, she didn’t need to be awakened, only forced to rise and look out the windows. To her grief, the sounds she had been hearing were real. They were on the edge of a terrible scene of horrendous carnage, the site of a recent battle, and the dead and dying were everywhere. The remains of an enormous dragon lay on the side of a mountain, and it appeared that an epic battle between good and evil had occurred. Dead men, elves, dwarves and horses lay where they had fallen, and the remains of orcs and goblins abounded, sometimes accompanied by their giant, dire wolf steeds. A slight, sour wind blew across the battlefield, rousing the flies and the occasional moans from the not quite dead. They could see smoke rising in the distance from campfires and tents, the armies of men and elves working on their wounded and slowly reclaiming their dead.  
“Hahaha…” the old hag cackled. Aurora didn’t see anything particularly funny about the battlefield; the dead and wounded lay everywhere, and there was nothing humorous about it. She felt deeply disturbed by that much sorrow and misery, and felt more like crying than laughing. “Look at this, girl, it’s your lucky day!”   
“Luck?” Aurora repeated in amazement. “What form of luck is this?”  
“Dark luck,” the witch laughed, “My favorite kind! Someone else’s disaster is an opportunity. And,” she cackled, “Just look at all those tasty bits! Whoo hoo! Old Granny eats good tonight!”  
“What!” Aurora exclaimed, shaking her head. “We can’t possibly collect up all those bodies. Oh, no! No, no, no!”   
“No, no, no, girl!” the witch explained with a cackle. “Not the bodies! The lost pieces! Arms, legs, that sort of thing! Now, go get that lazy fairy and tell her to get to work!”  
Aurora sighed and did as the witch commanded. She woke Maleficent, who was sleeping fitfully as Aurora herself had been only minutes ago, and told her the bad news. Looking weary, she rose and followed Aurora. Beautiful Maleficent, her emerald eyes always so knowing and deep, were dimmed. She sat silently as the witch told them what their daily tasks were to be. Gathering up the stray parts of men and elves for the witch’s dinners and collections was to be their grim employment, and even Aurora, always able to make the best of things, was daunted. The witch handed them enormous baskets to put the pieces in, and then Aurora asked, “What if someone sees us?”  
“They won’t,” the witch assured them. “You will pass as invisibly as the wind. Do not interfere with them. Take only that which the warriors don’t claim.”  
“What happened here?” Aurora asked.  
“The dwarves tried to roust a nest of red dragons and retake the mines. Some men came to help them. Seems Mama Dragon hatched a fine brood. They killed all the little ones, thought they did a great job. Heh heh, then the orcs and goblins arrive, see, and think to steal the treasures from the dwarves and men. They had a battle, and then, during all that noise, old Mama Dragon crawls out of the mountain and feasts on the lot of them! Hahaha…” the old witch cackled.   
“And then?” Aurora asked, looking at the enormous carcass of a magenta and purple dragon. It had an almost feminine face, for a huge, flying reptile. It had dark rimmed eyes, a thin, pink nose and dark feet that turned deep violet at the tips, reminding Aurora of gloves and boots. The black horns and tail seemed to complete the dragon’s almost ladylike appearance. Much smaller, lighter colored baby dragons in various shades of pink, crimson, and orange, lay fallen upon the mountainside.   
“Oh, some heroes and another killed old Mama Dragon, and then, well, then, the elves decide it’s the perfect time to stake their ancestral claims to the surrounding forests! So then there’s another battle! Just like what happened at Lonely Mountain down south years ago! After that, of course the goblin and orc armies return with their troll and ogre warriors, and they fight it out! You’d think folk would learn, but somehow, they never seem to. No, matter,” the witch cackled, “Good eatin’ tonight, and it all makes a turd! Hahaha…”  
“Who won?” Aurora asked.  
“By the looks of the nice tents and the singing, I’d say the Men and Elves are burning their dead on pyres. Now,” the witch said, wagging her long, warty finger at them, “I only want parts of Men and Elves. Dwarves are too tough and gravelly, gotta boil ‘em too long. No need to eat second class tonight, I’m only taking the best! Leave anything from orcs, goblins, trolls, and other black-blooded creatures. They taste vile.”  
Aurora thought for a moment and asked, “Where’s Papa Dragon?”  
The witch turned around and laughed, “You’re getting smarter every day, aren’t you?”  
“So there’s going to be another battle?”  
“Soon, soon,” the witch cackled, her large eye staring at Aurora, the other glowing with an eerie green light. “He’ll get here, and not be very impressed that his wife and drakelings are dead, eh?”  
“You know this?”  
“I know how things go,” she smiled, and laughed to herself, shambling away in that strange manner she had. “Get going now! I’m hungry!” Aurora sighed, and turned to Maleficent, who was sitting on a boulder, her eyes closed, the limb-gathering basket set beside her. A dusty, stench-filled wind blew around them, and the fairy was silent and motionless. “And horsemeat is for leftover night! Hahaha… Gonna make some fine jerky, too!” the witch called back at them.  
Aurora stood beside her, and felt the overwhelming gloom that pressed down upon them. “I suppose we should get started,” she said, in no really hurry to begin or finish. She wondered how this had even happened. She’d wished for peace, why was there still hideous battles like this? Maybe it took a while, like the ogre had said, she thought as she worked. Aurora wondered how long they would be here, hopefully not long! She sighed, and tried to block as much of her surroundings out as possible. She was surprised when the old witch cackled and pulled her over to an unusual sight- a dead angel.  
Beautiful white wings sprouted from the holy warrior, bent uselessly where he had fallen out of the sky. Golden hair was matted beneath the majestic helm, the beautiful face was vacant and blank, and the brilliant red and silver armor was rent and destroyed. Aurora thought a dragon had grabbed him in its talons, and one of the orcs had speared him. She checked to see if he were truly dead. The spear through his heart certainly looked lethal, but she wanted to know for sure. “How do you know he’s dead?” she asked. “I thought angels were immortal.”  
“Their spirits are,” the witch answered. “They just create new bodies when they need them. See here, how the blood is mortal silver and not immortal gold? If he were still alive the blood would be a radiant golden yellow. But it ain’t; it’s old, cold, and the light’s gone out. So, that’s why his bad luck is your good fortune!”  
“You’re not going to eat him, are you?” Aurora asked in distaste.  
“Eat him? No, child, I never eat anything blessed! Doesn’t agree with me. So, just stand back here while I cleave those wings…” She raised her filthy blade, and severed the angel’s white, feathered wings. Silver, glittering blood that reminded Aurora of the soul-milk oozed from the new wounds. “Quick, quick, take off that dress and let’s attach them before the blood gets any colder!”  
To Aurora’s surprise, the witch made two slices across her back, and shoving the wings up against her, they attached themselves in a burst of light. Something of the angel’s spirit remained in the wings, and lent her his strength, in a surge of power unlike anything she had ever known before, making her want to take to the sky in a mighty burst, but she didn’t. Instead she breathed deeply, and took the hand of the startled fairy beside her. She looked into her eyes, and said gently, “I will not use these wings until you can fly with me. The witch thinks that she can drive a wedge between us this way, but do not allow her to! Very soon, we will soar through the skies together, if you but trust me!” She knew the fairy was hurt and disappointed because not only could she not fly, but she still could not speak. “Trust me!”  
Maleficent trusted Aurora, despite the wings, not because of them. She glared at the witch, who cackled craftily back. Truly, the fairy thought, the old hag had outdone herself in cruelty.   
Later that night, the wind began to howl, strangely warm and ghastly smelling, like a charnel house, and Aurora was glad to be safely invisible in the hag’s strange hut. She peeked out the windows, and watched with fascination as a light in the distance grew closer. She heard the men’s voices from across the valley, as they rose to arms. As the witch had predicted, another dragon, the largest of them all, returned that night. It was the father dragon, who, returning to the golden halls and underground lair that he and his mate had called home with their five hatchlings, was not pleased to find them all dead on the mountainside. Roaring, he blew a massive breath of fire upon their encampment, and then swooped back towards the mountainside. The evil smell grew stronger, and the hut began to shake in the wind. The inside, which seemed so very solid, with its’ wooden beams and stone hearth, was still, after all, balancing on two enormous chicken legs. As the roaring dragon passed overhead, Aurora beheld it clearly, and was astounded. “That thing is huge!” she exclaimed. Papa Dragon was almost twice the size of Mama Dragon, whom Aurora had thought was enormous.  
“Yes,” the old witch explained, “This is a great fire drake. A man can sit on the back of an ordinary red dragon and ride it; but as you have so aptly noted, that thing is huge! A man could run back and forth on his back!”  
“But what’s going to happen?” Aurora worried. She watched the enormous dragon swoop down over the encampments, and blow another burst of flames, “Those poor people!”  
“Yes, those poor people,” the Yaga agreed, “No fun to be burnt, that’s for sure. But watch now, girl, watch what they do. The old fire drake is smart, but he didn’t plan on the men and elves being prepared. He should retake the hall immediately, and wait them out. But he’s too enraged, and is going to fight them now. Watch.”  
So watch she did, as the dragon passed by again, and was engulfed in a rain of spears, arrows, and crossbow bolts. Most bounced off, but some of the spears and javelins aimed at his eyes hit. Once blinded, the dragon landed in a haphazard fashion, and flailed around randomly blasting everything with his flaming breath. Several heroes with enchanted weapons stepped forward, and fought the now blinded, enraged dragon. Aurora watched in horror, and was very glad to be safely in the old Yaga’s magical hut.


	36. Princess on Parade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snow White plans another gala to find a suitable princess for her youngest son, while wondering just how fat the three pixies Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather can get and still be able to fly!

Chapter 36  
Princesses on Parade

It was such a shame about Aurora, Snow White thought, and even more of a shame about Cinderella. What was wrong with those boys, anyway? What did Phillip and Leonard think was so great about following around that boring, grumpy old wizard who always smelled like smoky campfires and pipeweed? Snow White was frustrated. Instead of one of them marrying the beautiful girl, they set her up in a dress and flower shop. Whatever had those two been thinking? That beautiful girl had been a local, and at least her unpleasant relatives didn’t have wings, and she didn’t try to kiss them! It was also a pity about Rose Red. Why couldn’t she have just been normal? True, the horns and wings were a problem, but she did have such a beautiful face. Just like her mother, such a lovely face but unlovely thoughts going on behind it. Why couldn’t she at least have behaved decently, even if she did have wicked wants and desires? Imagine, going around kissing teenage girls instead of looking for a husband! And why ever had that pretty girl Aurora wanted to kiss her back for? Oh, all the terrible things the three good fairies had told her about what the wicked fairy Maleficent had been doing! It was simply dreadful, she could hardly believe any of it, except that they said they had seen it all with their own eyes. Beautiful Maleficent, so lovely to look at and yet so evil; her worst acts perpetrated against the girl she later claimed was her true love? Perhaps they really had been doing those perverted things together! Worse, to have declared true love for each other? It was ridiculous and preposterous, what they claimed, and Aurora must have been just as nasty and indecent as Maleficent, to have remained in that terrible witch’s hut, claiming to be saving the woman she loved more than life itself. That was bizarre in and of itself to Snow White. Rose Red was beautiful, she was adorable and precious as a baby, and Snow White had tried to teach her, help her, and love her like a sister, but she had grown into a monster. Perhaps it was just the evil she had inherited from her mother, the Wicked Queen. Yes, that had to be it, Snow White concluded. She had always been so very, very naughty! The evil must have been in her from the beginning, and what was cute in a baby became devastating in the woman. To think, all those years, those terrible stories about the evil, wicked fairy Maleficent had actually been Rose Red! But in Snow White’s opinion, they had been telling the wrong stories! Now if Stephan had married her instead of just using her, then she would have lost all those horrid, unnatural desires and become a good woman. Maybe Rose Red shouldn’t have scared him off by acting fey and unnatural. That was probably it, Snow White thought. If Rose Red had acted human instead of bizarre, and tried with all her might to be loving, sweet and accommodating, instead of wild and crazy like she was, then probably none of that would have ever happened. But no, Rose Red was a wanton, perverted creature, and her twisted desires had brought her death and to the witch’s door. The Seven Dwarves had been trying to save their old friend from a similar fate when they had killed Rose Red. That’s why Snow White had forgiven them; Rose Red had rediscovered her mother’s evil spells, and was planning more harm. Why, the last thing her sister had done before they had killed her was slap her and called her stupid! Snow White hadn’t been very fond of the way Rose Red had secured John’s friendship, either. Always looking at him with those big green eyes, smiling and flirting! The naughty fairy needed to find her own husband, not charm someone else’s! John and Rudyard had spent far too much time for Snow White’s liking worrying over and currying the fairy’s favor. Now, Rose Red and Rudyard would have been a suitable couple, from a magical perspective, Snow White thought, but she knew her sister didn’t like old and ugly. No, she had preferred young, blond, female and engaged to Phillip, if she couldn’t get already married!  
But, that was all over, Snow White concluded. Surely that wicked old witch had eaten both Rose Red and poor Aurora almost seven years ago! Phillip held out false hopes for them, she thought. When the king, her husband, gloriously returned in a few days from the battle with the dragon, there was going to be a grand, welcome home celebration! And part of that grand celebration would be the most perfect selection of princesses ever gathered together in one great hall! And she, Snow White, still fairest in the land despite her age, would be there, to sing for all assembled, and wearing her wonderful magic belt!   
Oh, and the wonders of the magic belt! Everyone loved her more than ever, and she looked younger, too! People would marvel at her youth and beauty at the celebration, and she would look lovely even standing next to young princesses! Oh, and princesses there would be! All the neighboring kingdoms had been invited, especially the young ladies. Surely there would be at least one princess who could turn Phillip’s head? Whatever was wrong with that boy?  
And it really was such a terrible shame about the three Good Fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather, she thought to herself. Of course, she would never say anything, but although they were dressed in finery, they were getting rather fat. Of course, Snow White certainly wasn’t rude or cruel enough to point it out, but they were growing steadily larger. Maybe, Snow White thought, she would only serve fruit, tea, and healthful treats like cucumber sandwiches at their luncheons together, instead of letting the three Good Fairies indulge themselves with cookies, candies, cakes, and the other frosted delights that they loved so much. Snow White shook her head and wondered how heavy they could become and still fly. Certainly, she sighed, not much more!


	37. A Mother’s Blessing- Maleficent Gets Her Wings Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their time of service to the Yaga over, Aurora and Maleficent leave the old witch and pledge their love to each other.

Chapter 37  
A Mother’s Blessing- Maleficent Gets Her Wings Back

They had served the witch for nearly seven years, and now, at last, with the end in sight, Aurora was looking forward to the rest of their lives. First, however, she thought, she had to find Clecie’s old wings, and reattach them to her fairy love. She was starting to feel that time was growing short. After all, what bargains might the witch want to make if Aurora had to barter or buy them from her?  
While tidying the dreadful little hut, Aurora decided it was time to clean out under the grimy couch the Yaga used for a bed. She’d never ventured to do that before, but some of the vermin and smells were becoming aggressive. Shooing the toads out of the way, she took all the bedding and washed it, hanging it out to dry. Then she took the bed itself apart and hauled the filthy mattress outside for a good airing. Underneath, as the rats ran away, she found a nasty collection of vile things. She couldn’t figure out quite what they were until it hit her- “It’s a booger collection!” she screamed in disgust. “Nose boogers, ear boogers, toe boogers, ass boogers… Ugh!” The witch’s ass booger collection was the last straw for Aurora. She had cleaned any number of nasty messes during her time there, but she didn’t even pretend to understand the booger collection. Instead, she hauled it all outside and threw it away. Then she went through the pile of dirty laundry that had sat under the bed since time immemorial. She found hair, boots, clothing, and more while the rats and frogs fled. In the mess, she found what she had been looking for the last six months; a pair of beautiful, light golden brown wings were hidden in with the filth. “Clecie’s wings,” she said, dusting them off. She picked them up and took them outside into the sunlight, knocking off not only dust but more specimens from the witch’s booger collection, and an appalling amount of rat turds and slug slime. While shaking and cleaning the wings, Maleficent saw what she was doing, and recognized what they were and who’s they had once been. “These are for you, dear,” Aurora said, “Once I’ve knocked the witch’s ass nugget collection off of them. I won’t attach them to you with slug slime.” Maleficent touched them reverently, and helped Aurora clean them off.   
The angel’s wings the witch had put on her had conferred to her some of the original owner’s power. She suspected that it was because the angel’s blood had mixed with her own. Now, she could heal ordinary wounds easily, and had some of his memories. The angel must have been very old and very wise, she thought. Only a dragon could have killed him. The goblin’s spear had only served to win renown for the goblin, amongst his loathsome companions. There was great power in the wings, but it could only be kept with honor and integrity. Anything less, and they would fail and fall off. But that was not a worry for today, she thought. Some of her blood, with the angel’s still mixed in, would serve to reunite the fairy with her mother’s long-lost wings, and to reinvigorate them. When they were clean, she cut herself, and dripped her blood on the wings, and then made two shallow cuts in the fairy’s back. She willed love and light from her heart and hands into the wings, and it was a beautiful reunion, which left the fairy glowing in delight, and Aurora happy and relieved. She had felt less than proud of having removed the fairy’s wings at the witch’s behest. Now, that wrong had been righted, and she could look upon her lovely friend without feeling tinges of guilt.  
When the witch returned home in her flying cauldron, she rushed right past the happy, winged fairy, and spotting her mattress being sun-bleached for freshness, began to howl. She ran inside, and finding all her treasures either cleaned and organized, or like the booger collection, decently thrown away, she howled again. “Oh, oh, oh!” the witch screamed and wept, “Oh, the loss! All the memories, all the years!” Then she turned on Aurora. “Get out of here! Take your blessings and leave! Go on, go!”  
“But we still have another six months of work,” Aurora pointed out.   
“Ai! Poor old me! I won’t last another six months of you! Take your fairy friend and go! Oh, alas, alas!” wept the witch. “My babies! Oh, where have you gone?”  
“Then you are sending us away, and voiding the rest of our service? Meaning that now Maleficent can talk and perform magic, and we do not owe you anything? The oathbreaker’s curse is broken, and both my promises and Clecie’s to you have been fulfilled? I am asking you this now.”  
“I need no angels around here!” the witch snapped. “Go, and never return! Yes, your servitude to me has been fulfilled, on the condition that neither of you ever return here again! Now take your fairy lover and your blessings and go away!” Aurora didn’t waste another second. There was nothing in that house she needed or wanted, so she seized Maleficent’s hand and ran, their raven friends following close overhead. The witch howled and yowled until they were out of sight. Then she stopped, and sat down with a loud, satisfied sigh that was half a groan, leaning back, legs spread and closing her eyes. “Peace and quiet at last!” she exclaimed. “Six more months of them, while listening to that wing flapping again? No, no, no! There’s not a chore they can do that’s worth that noise!” Then she took her pipe out of her pocket and enjoyed a long, leisurely smoke. “I ain’t healing any more fairies,” she decided. “All that aggravation wasn’t worth it!”  
Once they were safely away from the witch’s house, and into the green woods where the true light of day shone, only then did Aurora slow down. Then she gave a cry of exultation, and grinning happily, took Maleficent in her arms and said, “We are free! My beautiful fairy love, we are free! Flying, magic, and talking! Speak to me now, after all these years!”  
Maleficent smiled, and thought how amazing that truly was. She was alive, they were together, and Aurora had grown into a stunning, powerful creature; a suitable life mate and companion for her. She kissed her beloved deeply, and whispered, “Thank you! I love you.” Her voice was soft, from long disuse. Aurora knew that the fairy needed time to regain her vocal eloquence, and that it wasn’t a matter of healing so much as a matter of habit. Maleficent had become so unused to speaking that she no longer even considered saying anything, content to let Aurora do the talking.   
As they walked through the forest, holding hands and in no particular hurry, they spoke of the future and their own hearts. “When I meet Phillip again, I’m going to tell him that we don’t need a sham marriage, just to make other people happy. He and I can still be the best of friends, and he can be with his true love, and I can be with you. You’re the one I want to be with. Still, after all these years, you’re the one I want.”  
Maleficent smiled, and squeezed her hand. “I’m glad,” she said softly. “It’s been a long time, and I want to go home.”  
“Just the two of us,” Aurora said joyfully. “We will fly together, sleep together in a nest; cuddling and making love as much as we want. And there won’t be anyone to order us up in the morning, either! I will not miss being whacked awake with that witch’s staff!”  
Maleficent laughed, and said, “You’ve grown, though. You’re not a child or a weakling. Indeed, you are stunning!” The girl had changed into a woman, and the woman into a powerful force.   
Aurora laughed and blushed, saying, “I remember the wizard saying something about not wanting to feel that decorated.”  
“I owe you my life,” Maleficent said. “You brought me back from the dead, and completely healed me, in every way. Even in ways that I didn’t know I was injured. I feel different; like we are truly a part of each other.”  
“You have part of my soul, and your mother’s wings. You were always more loved than you guessed, but now you have proof to keep with you.” She paused and then said, “I think I would like to visit the Woodland Realm. To see the place that Clecie forsook and Phillip described visiting when he was young. I cannot help but wonder what it was like.”  
“Yes, I would like to see it too.”  
“And you can teach me to fly now!” Aurora said excitedly. “This will be fantastic!”  
That made Maleficent laugh; there was a lot more to flying than Aurora seemed to think there was. Mostly it would be a lot of work and practice at taking off, and especially landing. But it was work that the fairy was going to have to do alongside her pupil. Clecie’s wings, while still usable, were different from her own, and so she needed to become familiar with their slightly smaller wingspan, and greater arch. Seeing a fallen log, she said, “Let’s start now.” She stood up on the log, and motioned for Aurora to stand beside her. She spread her wings, and flapped them in a smooth motion. She wasn’t trying to take off yet, she was trying to demonstrate the motions. Aurora jumped up beside her, vigorously flapped, and soared up momentarily to fall back down, wildly out of control. “Time and practice will be required,” the fairy told her.  
“So it would seem,” Aurora laughed. “I want to try it again!”  
“Landing is just as important as taking off,” Maleficent told her, flapping up lightly and setting back down on the ground. “Flying is all about control. You must learn to maneuver and touch back down before attaining any height. Otherwise, injury will be the result.”  
Aurora agreed but was undaunted. She jumped, flapped, crashed, leapt, whooshed, and landed all afternoon before feeling that she was learning to take off and land. By then, she was tired, and a little sore from using muscles that she hadn’t ever exercised in that way before.   
They walked on together in silence, until Aurora spotted a river, and brought Maleficent to it. Looking at each other, and the grime from the witch’s hut, they laughed, and shedding what clothing they had, waded into the river. So used to being together with speaking, they washed each other in the river, and slowly the accumulated grit and crud that had covered them wore away. It was delightful to feel clean, and especially to rinse out their hair. Using their fingers as combs, they laughed at the strange bits that had clung to their braids, and especially in their wings. Maleficent put her arms around Aurora, and feeling fresh and whole at last, whispered into her ear, “True love’s kiss.” She touched her lover with her entire body, wet skin to wet skin, and with the river rushing about their waists, Aurora eagerly returned her embrace, delighting in the feel of her lips and the brush of eyelashes. She breathed deeply and held Maleficent tightly, not ever wanting to let her go. Then, realizing her beautiful fairy lover would stand in the cold water until she froze before she would break off their embrace, Aurora gently led her back to shore.   
“You’re cold,” Aurora said, holding her close and feeling her own body heat warm the chilly fairy. The fairy was much colder than she was, and more slight of build. “Human muscles hold heat much better than thin bird bones,” she laughed.  
“Very well,” Maleficent smiled, and spreading her wings, shook the water out, sprinkling her lover. “Do you want to put those back on,” she asked, pointing at the pile of dirty rags and worn, grimy deerskin, “Or risk fairy garments?”  
“I think I might have to risk fairy garments,” Aurora laughed, “Although I shall keep the medicine pouch and tool bag. Should a fairy garment fail, I would rather not have an axe fall on my foot.”  
“That sounds reasonable. What do you want to wear?”  
Aurora looked at the deerskin shift she had made for herself, and said, “Like that, but much nicer! After all, we still have some traveling to do.”  
Maleficent considered for a moment, and said, “Put on the medicine bag.” Aurora shook the rest of the water off, and then put her well-worn medicine bag back around her neck, and the fairy touched it, running her other hand up and down Aurora’s body. The resulting outfit was like the original deerskin shift, but more elaborate and beautiful, with embroidery along the front and sides.   
“Thank you! I love it!” Aurora laughed, “Now, something for yourself.”  
The fairy did not want to touch the old pile of rags, so she took some leaves from a tree, and made herself a beautiful fairy gown that matched her eyes. “Now we are ready.”  
“Yes, my dear, now we are ready.”  
“It is only right to return to the castle and tell Phillip that we are still alive before going home,” Aurora said. “I would like to spare him an unnecessary trip to the Yaga’s hut.”  
“Yes, and I would like to bring some of my mother’s things home with me, at least her diary. If they are still there,” she added. “It is possible that someone has found the hidden chamber.”  
“Maybe not,” Aurora said. “I think it more likely that we will find the candles and flowers just where I left them, and the hidden chamber still locked up.” They both paused, and thought about how that would look; dead flowers, burnt candle stubs, and the remains of the scene of the kiss of awakening. “I’m sorry for running out on you like that. I wanted it to be beautiful, and I should have recognized that something was wrong.”  
“I think the moment of ruin lies with me,” Maleficent said. “I was completely insane.”  
Aurora took her hand, and they began walking, following the meandering river towards the castle. It was a much longer route, but they were in no hurry, and the riverside was beautiful. There was a great waterfall in the distance, and they were casually aiming towards it, for no other reason than it was lovely. It was not in the direction of the castle, it was in the foothills of the Iron Mountain, and magical looking rainbows seemed to hover above it. “I will be truthful. I am worried about that happening again, and so I want you to promise me that you will not start questioning the mirror or drinking potions without me. Please let me help you, and stop things before they ever get that bad again.”  
“I will not drink potions or question the mirror without you,” Maleficent promised. “Though I think the dwarves evil gift was at the root of the madness.”  
“Perhaps. Let us hope that evil thing has been cast away, and that we never see it again!”  
“Yes,” the fairy agreed, and then they spoke of more pleasant things. But sadly, they had not seen the last of it. 

Maleficent was admiring the delicate smoothness of the fine feathers that comprised Aurora’s wings. So white they shimmered, sparkling in the bright of day and glowing in the moonlight, they were much smaller and tighter than her own wings had been, or Clecie’s. The fairy was fascinated with them, despite herself. An angel’s wings on a human girl; sometimes she was awed, and a little bit jealous of what they did. Slowly, Aurora was learning to control them, and the bursts of power they provided. Not merely devices of flight, they retained some of the angel’s earthly life force, and seemed to be a permanent repository of the healing energy Aurora was also learning to use. “And mine only contain my mother’s love,” the fairy commented one evening, admiring the glowing, glittering feathers.  
“It is good to be blessed,” Aurora said with a sly smile, which then turned into a merry laugh. “I like that we have different powers. That means we complement each other well.”  
“So it would seem,” the fairy answered, accepting Aurora’s embrace, “One might almost think we were meant for each other.”  
“Oh, I like that thought!” Aurora exclaimed in delight. “What an ordinary life I might have had, if it weren’t for you, and how much poorer I would be in mind and spirit because of it!”  
“And I like that thought,” Maleficent answered, “Although I wouldn’t flatter myself too much with it, as I knew what I was thinking often enough.”  
“I like it fine,” Aurora answered, “And it is a beautiful twist of fate, destined to become lovelier still.” She kissed her fairy lover, and said, “If you will have me, we will be together, forever and ever.”  
“If you would have me?” the fairy repeated in amazement, “It would seem more likely that an angelic, lovely, kind hearted woman like yourself would be hearing such a plaint from a dark fairy, not the other way around.”  
Aurora laughed, “Oh, we both know that’s not true!” Then with another kiss she said, “Forever and ever.”  
Maleficent accepted her kiss and then said, “Forever and ever.”  
Then Aurora grinned and informed her, “Now you’re married to me!”  
“I am?”  
“Absolutely,” the blonde said, “Forever and ever, you said so yourself!” The fairy laughed, and Aurora picked her up easily, “Yes! Now you’re stuck with a lowly human who only looks pretty!”  
Then the fairy laughed again, “There would seem to be more to that description! But if you would have me, I will certainly be yours.” She returned her lover’s kiss, but a thought came to her that she had never needed to worry about before; the difference in their lifespans. She would outlive Aurora by hundreds of years, and if she had known that they would both survive their servitude to the witch, extending Aurora’s lifespan to match her own would have been an excellent use of the wish Helene had offered them. Not for the first time or the last, she regretted going along with Aurora’s lofty but vague and dangerous wish.  
“What troubles you?” Aurora asked, sensing her feelings.  
“Humans and fairies age at different rates,” she answered softly.  
“Meaning?” Aurora smiled.  
“Fairies live for hundreds of years,” Maleficent said gently.  
“So,” Aurora said slyly, “You can either have another beautiful princess to kiss and be special friends with, live alone in eternal sadness, or die of grief upon my grave. Really, Maleficent, I’m fine with whichever path you take.” Then she smiled, taking pleasure in her own joke and the fairy’s shocked expression. “Truly,” the princess said, becoming serious, “I know you’re going to outlive me. I’ve always known that, and I don’t expect you to die upon my grave, I’m just being silly. Yes, I’m going to grow old and die, and I’m not worried about it for my sake, but for yours. I’m still sort of surprised that we both survived our years with the Old Wild Hag. You were mostly dead when I brought you there, but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I would do anything to have you back. I want to spend my life with you, and hopefully even when I get old and feeble, you’ll still let me taste you,” she said, giving the fairy’s lips a sensuous lick, and then a kiss, pulling her tightly into her embrace. “Then, someday we will be together in the Halls of the Dead. None of that bothers me at all. Does it bother you?”  
“Truthfully,” the fairy said, “The thought of losing several lovers over a lifetime saddens me greatly, losing you most of all. I would be unbearably unhappy and lonely without you, I am not certain that I would want to live without you.”  
Aurora kissed her lips gently and then said, “Then that leaves you dying on my grave, so we had better use what time we have wisely,” she giggled, starting to kiss her way down the fairy’s body. “Do they have sex is the Halls of Mandos?”  
“No,” the fairy answered with a laugh, “At least I don’t think so. It was very much a land of the mind and soul.”  
“Then there’s no time to waste,” she laughed in answer, her lips and tongue finding the fairy’s breasts, and her warm hands running up and down her sides. “Because when I’m dead, this is what I’m going to miss, so I plan to enjoy every moment of being able to feel and experience your body. It certainly is a good thing that you started off the older woman,” Aurora winked at her.  
“So it would seem,” the fairy hummed appreciatively, her fingers once again touching the soft white feathers of Aurora’s wings, and delighting in the silky feeling of her blond hair through her fingers.


	38. Return to White Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aurora and Maleficent return to White Castle, and Maleficent takes revenge upon the Seven Dwarves.

Chapter 38  
Return to White Castle

Several weeks later of fishing, bathing, and flying practice at the lovely waterfall, they heard what sounded like Snow White’s singing, and dwarven voices. “It cannot be,” Maleficent said, leaning her head to the side.  
“It very well might be,” Aurora thought aloud, imagining Snow White having a secret meeting with the dwarves out in the forest, whether her husband forbade her to or not. They were quite close to the Iron Mountains, and Snow White may well have left her servants farther downstream. The ravens cawed a warning, Diaval and his wife circling overhead with their ever-growing family. Aurora took Maleficent’s hand, gripping it tightly. The fairy listened closely, and yes, the singing was Snow White, surrounded by her bird friends and little forest companions, while the dwarves laughed and made bawdy jokes. She scowled, and readied for flight. “What are you doing?” Aurora asked her, both hands on the easily angered fairy.  
“I am going to kill the dwarves and avenge both my own murder and my mother’s!” Maleficent announced, taking a simple stick and turning it into a weighted staff; an ornament and a weapon.  
Aurora thought for a minute. “I think I’m going to let you. I can see some real justice to this.”  
Feeling the anger and vengeance rise within her, Maleficent took to the air. With a shriek and a descent she fell upon her enemies as they cavorted lasciviously by the riverside in a flowered meadow. The dwarves were circling around Snow White, eyeing her like a pack of coyotes around a chicken coop, ears bright red and wiggling. But Snow White sang and danced happily, the enticing gold and ruby belt glittering around her waist.  
The dwarves were unaware, and did not have their axes in hand. She swooped down upon them and knocked them all over with a gust from her wings. Moving swiftly, she cast a spell, and lifted them all into the air, breaking their connection with the earth. She knew now, about the dwarves and their special earth magic! Keeping them aloft, she smashed them against each other, and enjoyed striking them, one by one, with the staff, while Snow White screamed and cowered beneath a tall beech tree. Her forest friends and the pixies, who had been flying happily with the birds, vanished in an instant, not to return until the battle was done. And it was done within minutes, as the fairy relished crushing each dwarf’s skull, and then hurling the bodies into the river, where dense as stone, they sank to the bottom.  
Aurora watched the events unfold, and waited. She saw the fairy swoop and slay the six dwarves, and then land beside Snow White, who thought that a ghost was killing them all. Snow White wept and screamed, holding her hands over her face, waiting for the evil spirit to kill her, too.   
“Snow White,” Maleficent said, waiting for her to calm down. But she kept shrieking. “Snow White! Will you please stop screaming now?”  
Hesitantly, Snow White peeked over her own elbow at the talking, evil vengeful spirit. “What do you want?” she asked.  
“Only for you to stop screaming, I have fulfilled my oath and avenged my own and my mother’s death upon the dwarves. I do not know what you had planned here in the forest, but I know well the looks on their faces, and what they were plotting!”  
“We were going to have a lovely afternoon, singing and dancing,” Snow White said, getting up from her cringing upon the ground. “Until you came along and killed my friends! What a wicked thing to do! Oh, why have you returned from the dead, foul spirit?”  
“I’m not a spirit, Snow White,” Maleficent explained. “The witch released us. Aurora’s blessings became too much for her to endure and our time of service was nearly over anyway. So now we are returning to the White City to tell others of our descent into the underworld.”  
“And the only thing you could think of to do after all that time is to come here and kill my friends?” Snow White snapped, her eyes starting to glow with an eerie redness that Aurora recognized quite well. “You are still horrible, wicked and cruel! Oh, why aren’t you dead?”  
“I am rather pleased to not be dead,” Maleficent responded. “Aurora traded almost seven years of her life to the witch to bring me back from the Halls of Mandos, and gave me part of her soul. I owe her my life and all else.”  
“Then she is just as wicked and nasty as you are!” Snow White accused. “You broke up her betrothal to Phillip, tried to steal my husband, and were reworking your evil mother’s old spells of poison and black magic! You’re nothing but a fiend and a devil’s curse! How I wish I’d never brought you to the good witch, how I wish I’d left you on that garbage pile…”  
“Enough!” the fairy declared, startling Snow White. Then she reached over and undid the belt from Snow White’s waist.  
“You thief!” Snow White accused, trying to wrestle it back from her. The anger and desire for her great treasure made her stronger than usual, but the fairy was still easily able to outmaneuver the older queen. She flung the belt up and away, and into the waterfall, where it disappeared into the frothing, misty depths. Seeing it go, Snow White shrieked horribly, and started to chase after it. Wading up to her waist in the water, she looked at the force of the great river pounding down over the spot where the precious jewelry had vanished, and started to cry.   
Aurora had watched the battle and disagreement without interrupting. But now she took Maleficent’s hand, and they walked into the water where the weeping Snow White was grieving for her lost treasure. Aurora had seen that madness before, and felt sorry for Snow White. Putting her hand on the queen’s shoulder, and giving her a burst of healing energy, she said, “Let it go. The belt is cursed, and although the waterfall is no permanent solution, as one day the riverbed itself will change, it will never again be found within our lifetimes.” She gave the wailing Snow White a hug, and upon noticing that Aurora had enormous, glittering white wings, she abruptly stopped crying.  
“Whatever happened to you?” Snow White exclaimed, looking at Aurora, and cautiously touching the pale feathers.  
“It is a long tale,” Aurora said. “But suffice to say for now that I learned a lot in the time we were gone.”

“Phillip!” Aurora called, and he turned around.  
“Aurora! I’m so happy to see you!” he exclaimed as she threw her arms around him, and he returned her embrace.  
“You’re wearing wizard’s robes!”  
“And you’re wearing angel’s wings! I imagine your story must be far better than mine.” Then he paused while looking at the splendorous white wings. “But the seven years isn’t over. Otherwise I would have met you.”  
“The witch had enough of us,” Aurora laughed. “She wanted her peace and quiet back.”  
“And I am so happy to see that you have returned! And your fairy love, alive again!”  
“Yes, I healed her and I learned so much! I have such a long story to tell you!”  
“Tell me the whole thing, and then tonight after dinner, when they ask you for your tale, I can assist you if need be.”  
“There might be parts that others may find disturbing,” she said, and told Phillip of their long stay at the witch’s hut, and all the adventures they had.  
“Completely leave out the part about Rumpelstiltskin,” Phillip cautioned, “And it is quite possible that some of the more gossipy members of our court might find it amusing to go about telling everyone that you have crotchroaches, so I would advise not mentioning that, either.” He advised her on a few other ways to avoid social disaster, bits to elaborate on and ones to leave out altogether. But for the most part, it was a happy reunion, and Phillip told her of his adventures, what magic he had learned, and best of all, that he had secured her homeland. “You need not fear usurpers any longer,” he told her. “Most of them would rather make money and pay off the kingdom’s debts than risk open war. I’m sure, after your adventures with the Old Wild Goddess, and the battlefields she took you to, that you’ll understand why being conscripted into our army and sent to fight the orcs, goblins, and trolls was an unpopular alternative few chose. Although it wouldn’t have been so bad if we hadn’t been forced to send aid to those foolish dwarves after they roused a nest of dragons. The war would have been over far sooner if they hadn’t done that, and our armies hadn’t been divided.”  
“I didn’t know that there was a war going on as well as the fight with the dragons. But the gore and misery of the battlefield was the worst part,” Aurora said. “It wasn’t the old witch and her nasty habits, or the strange places we went that were so frightening or horrifying, as that one, magic-less scene of horribleness that made me feel as though I’d aged a hundred years in a day. Even watching the armies fight a dragon wasn’t as awful as seeing the battlefield of dead and injured people.”  
“Indeed,” he agreed, and then he said, “It worries me, that in all the songs and old tales of heroes, that there’s so many battles that are seen as heroic, when it’s really the worst part of everything, the fighting.”  
“That bothers me, too,” she said. “So let’s not dwell on that part, but rather enchant our tales with mystery and magic, rather than war and bloodshed. Agreed?”  
“Agreed!”   
Another subject they had to discuss was their purported marriage. “I tried to tell my mother. Oh, may the gods have mercy upon me! I tried to tell her I wasn’t interested and she kept staging these horrid galas where I was supposed to meet a princess!”  
“We have to tell her,” Aurora said, “All of us at the same time, so she can’t just start singing and ignore you…”  
“Easier said than done,” Phillip said.  
So Aurora thought about it, and came up with a plan. That night, when she regaled the assembled group about their long and strange adventure, she was quite clear about the fact that she and Maleficent were a couple, and that everything they had done was for love. She noticed that Snow White’s expressions changed from disbelief to utter amazement and back again many times during the tale, but so did many people’s. While King John clapped, the wizard laughed merrily, and Phillip and his friends sang along and cheered, she noticed that some people weren’t very enthusiastic about her love story parts, and the least enthusiastic of all were her pixie aunties, whom Aurora noticed had grown noticeably older and rounder. Sitting beside Snow White, they looked simply horrified, when they weren’t giving Maleficent shocked and infuriated glances. In return the dark fairy stared back at them with a gaze that would have petrified a basilisk. At least they waited until the end of her story before the fighting actually broke out.  
“Why you wicked old thing!” Merriweather snapped at Maleficent.  
The dark fairy stared back at her and smiled slightly; the blue pixie had grown quite a bit chubbier over the almost seven years they had been gone, and although she now looked younger than the other two, she also seemed to have shrunk quite a bit in stature. Probably from a failed youth spell, the dark fairy thought. Not that the green pixie had fared any better; she had aged remarkably quickly, and gained a noticeable amount of weight. Maybe that’s what pixies do, Maleficent wondered. The only one who didn’t look very different was the pink pixie, who had also gained weight and gray hair, but she had been older to start with.  
“Calm down,” Flora said to her, “Shouting in front of the entire palace isn’t going to help. Let’s talk to our dear Aurora later, and see if we can’t lift whatever evil enchantments Maleficent has her under this time!”  
“It’s not an evil enchantment,” Aurora told them gently, in her sweetest voice. “I’ve always loved her. You don’t have to approve, and you certainly needn’t come to the wedding if you can’t say anything nice. But you do have to refrain from passing cruel judgments and making accusations in public.”  
“But she’s ensorcelled you again to think that!” Merriweather cried. “You don’t know what you’re saying!”  
“I do know what I’m saying,” Aurora answered, “And if you had paid closer attention to the story instead of making nasty faces at Maleficent, you would have realized that any such baneful love spells as you think I am under would have been broken by the Yaga years ago. I had many chances to think such things and abandon her, but I didn’t. I passed the test, and I get my fairy wife. You don’t have to like it, but you do have to keep quiet about your disapproval.”  
Merriweather had more to say, but her pixie sisters restrained her, and whispered that they should discuss this later. While they were talking together, Aurora sat down, and let the minstrels resume their regular entertainment. The princess’ story was still the highlight of the evening however, and everyone it seemed, had an opinion that they weren’t going to shout out loud at Aurora, but would certainly gossip about to their friends.  
“I almost wish you hadn’t said anything,” Maleficent said softly.  
“We’re going home very soon, perhaps tomorrow, and we can go to bed early tonight. I’m glad I did it, though. They can twist the truth, to be certain, but everyone heard my version of what happened, which lessens how much lying people can do. Best of all, now Phillip has a chance of convincing Snow White of the same thing.” She pointed at the conversation occurring between Phillip and his mother. Snow White was knitting her brows, as though highly vexed and having great difficulty understanding something. Then, to their utter shock, she jumped up and clasped her hands together in joy. “Uh oh,” Aurora exclaimed, “I wonder what he just agreed to?”  
“She certainly looks happy,” the fairy observed, as Snow White rushed over to them, and Phillip followed her, looking a little guilty.  
“What did you agree to?” Aurora asked him.  
“He pointed out to me that I get to plan two royal weddings!” Snow White exclaimed. “Oh, I hadn’t thought about it that way. And my sister’s wedding should be truly…”  
“Oh no, Snow White,” Maleficent told her. “No, I don’t want anything extravagant. It will be in the fairy realm, and quite small.”  
“Are you sure?” Snow White asked, looking sad.  
“Mother, you can make my wedding as fancy as you want,” Phillip offered. “They want something simple and very natural. Besides, haven’t you always been curious about Fairyland? This could be your great opportunity.”  
“I suppose,” Snow White answered, “This is just all so much to take in at once!”  
“Sleep on it,” Maleficent told her, “And you’ll feel better in the morning.” She smiled, despite Phillip trying to tell his mother the truth for well over ten years, it was still all a terrible shock to Snow White. Later that evening, she told Aurora, “Must we have any sort of ceremony at all? I don’t like their odd customs.”  
“I agree, but without it, people will forever be trying to attach me to a prince, and they won’t accept you.”  
“They are not going to accept me, anyway, Aurora,” Maleficent told her. “I could see the looks on their faces, and easily enough read their minds. The pixies spoke what many of them were thinking. To them, I will always be the monster who cast curses upon an innocent baby princess, and irredeemably evil.”  
“They will forget.”  
“Not something like that. The story will grow greater and more embellished with time, not the other way around.”  
“Why do you think that?”  
“Don’t you remember the stories the witch’s visitors told? My infamy has already spread far and wide, the story growing with each retelling. Even the parts that contradict each other.”  
“That is a mystery to me,” Aurora admitted, sitting down on the bed and removing her jewelry and shoes. “Did they think those things through before they repeated them? Don’t they feel a little silly?” She reached out her arms for Maleficent to lie down and join her. The fairy smiled and let her outer garments fall away, slipping into Aurora’s arms. Aurora giggled and said, “Do you have a spell that removes girl’s clothing?”  
The fairy laughed merrily, “What makes you think that?”  
“It just seems like something you would have,” she answered mischievously, “And I think I’ve lost a cloak or two that way in the past.”  
“If your cloaks have fallen off frequently, that was not of my doing,” Maleficent laughed, “Perhaps you should tie them on better! But that is an interesting spell to consider. What girls would I be using it on?”  
Aurora was glad she had successfully distracted her fairy lover, and said, “Me, silly!” She giggled and continued to distract her beautiful friend with lovemaking delights, but something was nagging at her, the witch’s words about how she would always have to protect her true love from humanity. It will be better, she thought, when we return home.


	39. Fairy Politics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not everyone is overjoyed at Aurora and Maleficent's return. The three pixies had elevated themselves to the status of Good Fairies, and taken new names. They are not at all pleased to see Maleficent again, and immediately begin making plans to rid themselves of her.

Chapter 39  
Fairy Politics

The three pixies, who had renamed themselves the Three Good Fairies, Mistress Flora, Mistress Fauna, and Mistress Merriweather, were aghast at what Aurora had told the entire court. About Phillip, well, everyone in the palace except Snow White had known about that, but what their beautiful princess Aurora had just proclaimed to the world! That she was betrothed to the wicked dark fairy Maleficent! How could it be? Or more precisely, what diabolical enchantments had the Mistress of Evil laid upon the poor princess this time?   
“Oh, why isn’t she dead?” Merriweather exclaimed. “The dwarves killed her seven years ago!”  
“At least our beloved, sweet Aurora isn’t dead,” Fauna pointed out. “Everyone assumed that she was, after going to that terrible old witch’s hut! The rest of us barely escaped with our lives!”  
“Of course I’m happy to see Aurora,” Merriweather explained, “Its Maleficent I don’t want to see! Isn’t it obvious to you that the evil fairy put more spells on her? She’s somehow ensorcelled the princess into loving her!”   
“And after we went and told the Faerie Queen that she was dead!” Flora thought aloud. “Oh, will my face be red when I have to clear up that misunderstanding.”  
“But there aren’t that many dark fairies left,” Fauna pointed out. “The Faerie Queen might think that it is a good thing that she’s alive.”  
“Then maybe we won’t tell her,” Flora pondered. “After all, there are a lot of humans out there who want Maleficent gone. More people than just the dwarves hated her, you know.” Their discussion continued long into the night, made all the more contentious by the sweet, feminine laughter they heard coming from the balcony of Aurora and Rose Red’s suite.  
“Maleficent,” Merriweather corrected. “It doesn’t matter what Snow White used to call her when she was a baby! Don’t get into some bad habit just because she does!”  
“I’m not sure what we can do now that Snow White has changed her mind, and is going to support this crazy marriage idea. Oh, our poor little Aurora!” Flora lamented. “What’s Maleficent going to do with her, anyway? Just have a slave?” She sighed sadly over the laughter floating over the breeze, and the sounds of their sweet little Aurora trying to interest her fiancée in open air lovemaking.   
“She doesn’t sound that unhappy,” Fauna observed, listening. Justifiably, Maleficent was shy around the great halls of Men, and would rather wait until they returned home to fey lands before disrobing outdoors. She couldn’t hear the dark fairy’s whispered response, but did hear Aurora’s laughter as her lover insisted upon wearing at least a simple gown outdoors, where someone might see her. Then they would have even worse things to say about her, and what they were already gossiping about was bad enough.   
“And you weren’t at all worried about the witch seeing or overhearing us,” Aurora laughed.  
“That was the Great Wild Hag,” Maleficent protested softly, “It was not possible to offend her, only annoy her with constant flapping.”  
“And you did, my dearest love, you did! I’m sorry for the other things that happened, the sadnesses and cruelties that were visited upon you, but that’s over now. We’re free to do as we wish, and there is so much to look forward to! And if you’ll forgive me,” Aurora said with a laugh, “I have a sudden desire to woo you with a song. Once upon a dream…” she sang, in the simple, sweet way she had learned after hearing the witch sing old bones back into a living thing, and the fairy was enchanted. She smiled, and accepted the princess’ sweet words and wooing, while still insisting upon keeping her gown on. She put out her arms and joined Aurora’s embrace. The words and the music were magical, and healed both her hurts and her heart, as her dearest love had done before, years ago, in that dirty hut, bringing her back from the dead.  
“I am yours, forever and ever,” Maleficent said.  
Sweeping her lover into a moonlight dance, Aurora said, “And I am yours, dearest one, forever and ever. Forever, and ever…”  
“Oh, that’s enough!” Merriweather proclaimed, and flew off.  
“Where is she going?” Fauna asked.  
“I must say our little princess is quite forward,” Flora answered, and took off after Merriweather. Fauna followed only because she didn’t want to be alone. They followed the angry little blue pixie all the way to the Sacred Grove of the Faerie Queen. Merriweather could not be stopped, and insisted upon seeing the Queen herself, interrupting a quiet evening their sovereign was having with her consort and close relations.  
“I’m sorry, my Queen,” Merriweather said, “But this is an emergency! Maleficent isn’t dead, she’s come back from the grave, and has bewitched more than just the princess. Queen Snow White is under her spell, and so are Prince Phillip, King John, Rudyard the Wizard, and who knows how many others. And she killed all of Snow White’s remaining Six Dwarves! She’s up to something, and knowing her, it’s always no good!”  
“How did she return from the dead?” the Queen asked.  
“I’m not sure, some sort of magic from the old Wild Hag.”  
“If the Baba Yaga brought her back from the dead, I’m certain she had a reason. Besides, no fairy enchantment can bedazzle a wizard,” she informed the pixies. “I think you are quite mistaken about all of it.”  
“Who knows what lies Maleficent told? Oh, don’t you remember all the wicked things she did before? She enslaved an entire community of Fey, and brought darkness and doom upon everyone in the Western Kingdom! We have to stop her before she does those same things again! And she’s bewitched poor Princess Aurora again. This time she’s got the girl believing she’s in love with her, and they are going to be married! Dark fairies aren’t supposed to meddle in human affairs, and she’s annexing kingdoms! Oh, won’t someone believe me?”  
“Very well,” the Queen said, “The enslaving of our own kind is a very serious thing, as is this accusation of controlling humans. Tell Maleficent that I wish to speak to her.”  
“But what if she won’t come?”  
The Faerie Queen gave Merriweather an angry look, and clearly was tired of her guests. Two burly imps in studded leather armor with gold armbands that glowed eerily seized the angry little blue pixie and dragged her off. Flora and Fauna followed without being arrested. They quickly found themselves thrown out of the Queen’s royal apartments, and told by the imps to quit making trouble, and not to return without the accused.  
“Oh, I’ll show them!” Merriweather vowed.  
“How?” the other two asked. “She’s not going to come out here just to be accused. She’ll simply refuse,” Flora pointed out.  
“Then we’ll make her,” Merriweather said ominously, flying back towards White Castle. It was nearly dawn when they arrived, and everyone in the palace was waking up and ready to begin their day. Back in their own rooms, Merriweather picked up an old wine bottle, and enchanted it. “Now,” she said, “Let’s go quietly wake up Aurora and tell her that Snow White wants to talk to her immediately. We won’t wake Maleficent. When Aurora leaves the room, we cast a spell on Maleficent and force her into the bottle. Then we can either take her to the Queen, or hide the bottle in some deep, dark place.” Flora and Fauna looked hesitant, but the little blue pixie exclaimed, “We’re doing this for our poor bewitched Aurora! Do you want her to be a mindless, bedazzled minion of that awful wicked fairy? It’s up to us to save her!” The other two shuddered at the thought, and agreed to the plan. Flora slipped in through the open windows, and tapped Aurora awake.  
“Snow White wants to speak to you,” she said. “It’s very important.”  
“What’s wrong?” Aurora asked. “Is someone hurt?”  
“It’s Phillip,” Flora lied, making something up on the spot.  
“Oh, no!” Aurora exclaimed. “I wonder what happened?” She leapt up and put on her robe, tying it askew to allow for her beautiful, new white wings. Adjusting for fashion was going to be a problem, she was coming to realize, now that they were back in the realm of humans. She was about to awaken her lover when Flora assured her that wasn’t necessary. So Aurora just kissed the dark fairy’s cheek and darted off. Maleficent mumbled and then seemed to go back to sleep.  
The pixies wasted no time. Thinking the dark fairy was still asleep, they brought the enchanted bottle into the bedroom and began to chant, planning to trap the dark fairy within it. But Maleficent was not taken by surprise, and quickly turned their spell against them, shrinking the three pixies into tiny firefly sizes, and forcing them into their own magic bottle. Then she laughed.  
“You are so stupid,” she declared, while sealing the top of the bottle. “You three pixies are too incompetent and idiotic to live. I had to send food to the infant princess lest she starve, and watch over her as a child lest she die due to your foolishness and utter negligence! And you have the nerve to still accuse me of wrongdoing! Well, you’ll not ruin anything else in my life! You tried to trap me into this bottle, but here you’ll remain for as long as I see fit! Which could be a very, very long time,” she informed them, putting the bottle into a trunk, and closing the lid. She felt quite pleased with herself as she wrapped a cloak between and below her wings, and set off to go find Aurora. She suspected there was probably nothing wrong with the prince, but decided to go and find out anyway. Indeed, she found a perplexed Aurora outside the still sleeping Snow White’s door.  
“Pixie tricks,” Maleficent said. “But since we are awake now, I would like to start packing up the things I plan on taking with us.”  
“Only nice things, I hope,” Aurora asked.  
“Yes,” the fairy agreed, “Only things that are non-poisonous,” she smiled.  
The room was exactly as they had left it. No one had entered, or touched anything. Aurora started taking the dead flowers down; they were simply too sad and depressing. She left the candles, however, while Maleficent began sorting through the books. She was pleased to discover several more diaries, and a list of potions designed to evoke memories of exceptional landscapes and scenery. Those should be pleasant, she thought, and she heard the magic mirror hum to life.  
“Mistress!” it said urgently. “Remove that woman immediately!”  
“What woman?” the fairy said, looking up. She was startled to see Aurora in mid throw, the rock smashing into the mirror with a resounding shattering noise, and the stone seeming to pass through the mirror, as though it were a window. There was a dreadful roaring noise, like a dragon’s howl of rage long bottled up, and then glass, rock, and the spirit of a dragon all erupted from the mirror’s frame. Dust and shards of broken glass flew everywhere, and they shielded their faces. The spirit of the dragon faded away with a last roar, and the magical fireplace went out, leaving a dark, cold mess.   
Aurora looked out from behind her wing, which had shards of glass stuck in it, and at the layer of what looked like volcanic ash and broken glass everywhere. The fairy was also gazing out from under a wing at the mess. “I wish you hadn’t done that,” Maleficent told her, “And I would have appreciated knowing that you were going to do it before you did.” She wiped the dust and ashes off of herself. There were a few pieces of glass stuck in her wings, but Aurora had taken the brunt of it, since she was standing directly in front of the mirror.  
“Forgive me for assuming,” Aurora said, healing herself and then reaching over to remove a piece of glass from the fairy’s wings, “But it had a hold on your mind before, and it is evil. So I didn’t wait, I just destroyed it.”  
“What’s done is done,” Maleficent said. Then she smiled as the healing spell tickled, and she felt glittery, giggly sensations sliding over her. But she did not make silly sounds, so she squelched any noises and maintained her dignity.   
“I was hoping to make you giggle,” Aurora said.  
“Aurora, as you well know, I do not giggle.”  
“Now that’s a challenge,” Aurora laughed, “Less than twenty four hours from now I’ll have you not only giggling but squealing, with your feet kicking around in the air!”  
“If I’m naked, it doesn’t count,” the fairy countered, using every ounce of dignity she had in the face of her lover’s hearty laughter, “And I do believe there to be a broom, mop, and bucket in the bedroom closet.” She went back to packing books, and hid her own laughter while Aurora cleaned up the broken glass. Then, she suddenly had a wonderful idea.  
That night, Maleficent took the bottle containing the errant pixies out of the trunk, and after giving the glass a few long licks, which panicked the pixies inside utterly, she set the bottle in a wardrobe, leaving the door slightly ajar, so that the pixies could see a slice of the room’s interior. Then she stripped down to a light shift for sleeping in, and lay down on the bed, dozing off.  
“Oh, what’s that wicked woman got planned now?” Merriweather asked.  
Her sisters didn’t know then, but they soon found out. Later in the evening, after the dancing and festivities in the great halls and ballrooms below, Aurora noisily returned to the room, giggling boisterously and quite drunk. She took off her cloak and shoes, and tossing her gown to the side, threw herself down naked on the bed next to her lover, who was quite enthusiastic and receptive considering the clumsiness of her overtures.  
“Oh, no,” Flora exclaimed, “They can’t be going to… you know…”  
“Oh yes they can!” Merriweather answered, “That vile, depraved, nasty-minded creature!”  
Yet her claims of nasty-mindedness would scarcely seem confined to the fairy. Their beloved Aurora had no difficulty sweeping her lover into her arms and having her way with her. “Shield your eyes, sisters!” Fauna exclaimed, clapping her hands over her face and turning the other way. Even so, they could still hear the sounds of sex, and occasionally, when one of the pixies would peek over, she would catch Maleficent’s gaze, and the dark fairy would smile back at her with a wink and an ecstatic moan for her lover.  
“Has she no shame?” Flora decreed.  
“She’s evil,” Merriweather told her. “We always knew she was evil! Even when she was young, she was wicked! Then she enslaved us all, and she cursed the baby, and now… why now just look at that! No, wait, don’t look at it! Listen to it! No, don’t listen to it! Oh, what am I saying? Poor Aurora is lucky to be alive after all the terrible things that wicked creature has done. We have to do something!”  
“But what?” Flora lamented, peeking around to have her mind scarred by the image of dear, sweet Aurora kissing the inner thighs and more of the dark fairy, who was sighing and moaning most audibly.  
Aurora paused and giggled, “You’re so noisy!”  
“Seven years of not being able to speak,” Maleficent smiled coyly back at her. “I have to make up for lost time.”  
“If you’re up for it, oh Lovely One,” Aurora laughed, “I brought our favorite toy with me from the witch’s hut. I always kept it with me in my tool bag, since I never knew where we might want to use it, and I love how we can both climax at the same time when we use it.”  
“Surprise me,” the fairy said, and although what Aurora did wasn’t much of a surprise to Maleficent, it was a sheer horror to the three pixies, who wailed and wept for their poor little Aurora’s lost virtue. Oh, if only she hadn’t ever met that dreadful wicked fairy! Why hadn’t the good prince awakened their dear Aurora instead of that awful, depraved Maleficent, they lamented as they covered their eyes and ears. The dark fairy flapped her wings in ecstasy, as she also added her long quelled sighs and moans to their lovemaking. She felt so free, knowing no one was going to throw anything at her for flapping while she peaked. Maleficent laughed, remembering how much her ecstatic flapping had annoyed the witch. So much, she smiled to herself, that the old hag had sent them away six months early rather than listen to it again! A gleeful laugh came from her throat, and then she peaked again, sighing and moaning, the well sanded and carved piece of bone penetrating them both and connecting her flesh with Aurora’s, and her lover’s hand rubbing her to escalate her pleasure. The pixies screams of horror were the perfect addition to make her moment of enjoyment exquisitely complete; and Aurora got her giggle from the fairy.   
“What’s that noise?” Aurora asked, after relaxing from her peak. She had grown used to ignoring the witch’s snoring, the croaking of the tattletale toads and the occasional other animal noises, but wailing laments were something else again. She had thought that she heard screams, but now she was just hearing the music downstairs.  
“Something unimportant and far away,” the fairy answered with a moan and a sigh, Aurora’s body still rocking hers and the princess’ warm hands continuing to gently stimulate her. “We are unused to the sounds of a human city. But soon we will be home, and then we will have all the time in the world for each other.”  
“She’s a monster,” Merriweather concluded, as their sweet Aurora snuggled up for the night with the treacherous dark fairy, kissing her and glorying in the extraction of a giggle and a squeal, as Aurora’s fingers fearlessly explored her beautiful lover, and she sighed in appreciation of her angles and curves. “We’ve got to do something!”  
“But what?” the other two pixies wailed.   
“I don’t know,” the angry little pixie exclaimed, “But I’ll get her back someday for this!” They passed an uneasy night sitting around together in a bottle while Aurora and Maleficent slept comfortably in each other’s arms, the sweat on their naked bodies easily visible in the moonlight if the pixies had dared to turn around.  
The next morning, the pixies discovered that they had been sleeping when their dear Aurora awakened with a groan and said, “Oh, I will never drink anything called Goblin’s Blood again… Wait,” she mumbled, looking around the room and seeing her clothes thrown on the floor and their bone sex toy in her hand, “Did I make an obnoxious ass of myself?”  
The fairy laughed softly, “Not really, it was an interesting experience.”  
Aurora blanched and groaned, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I did but I doubt it was as elegant as I would have wished it to be!” Her lover laughed again, while Aurora took a drink of water and then said, “I’m sorry again, and forgive me if I did something rude…” then she fell asleep again, and the fairy climbed out of bed, putting her own gown back on, and checked upon her pixie jar.  
Maleficent lifted up the bottle, and gazed in at them. “I trust you slept well?” the dark fairy smiled.  
“Oh, the horror of it!” Flora exclaimed. “You let us out of this bottle! Have you no shame?”  
“We’ll get you for this,” Merriweather threatened her.  
“So be it,” the dark fairy answered, and using her magic, transformed the three pixies into frogs; one blue, one pink, and one vibrant green. “As frogs you shall remain, until you receive love’s first kiss,” she laughed diabolically. Then, tucking the bottle under her arm, she took flight, and from the air, she found her destination; the stinky hut where Shrek Onionskin and his family lived. Landing, she greeted the family, and told them that she had a special gift; a jar of talking frogs.   
Bart Onionskin took the jar and laughed, “Hahaha, hello talking frogs! You’ve got a date with the mud puddle, and I know how to fart in a jar!” He flicked his tongue at the pixies turned frogs, who screamed in terror, which made Maleficent laugh anew.   
“We’ll get you, Maleficent!” the blue frog threatened, while the green pixie told Bart Onionskin that she would turn into a beautiful princess if freed and kissed.  
“I don’t want some princess,” the young ogre guffawed, “I’d much rather have talking frogs!”  
“Enjoy,” the dark fairy smiled, flying away, thinking she was rid of the pixies for at least a decade.   
“Then again,” Bart Onionskin cackled maniacally, “Hey Donkey! Hahaha… Have we got some princesses for you to kiss! Hoho…”  
Maleficent was quite surprised when several weeks later three itchy, angry pixies with burnt hair and smelling like swamp gas reappeared to call her vile names. “However did you turn back into your own forms?” she asked.   
Flora was so upset she spat, “Why, we had to…”  
“Don’t tell her!” Fauna and Merriweather shouted.  
“Shame on you!” Flora snapped at Maleficent, “Shame, shame, shame!”  
“Do not defy me,” the dark fairy told them, “Better yet, leave and don’t come back!”  
“You wicked thing!” Merriweather snapped, “Well I’ll have you know we already told Aurora! Now, she knows what you’re really like!”  
Maleficent was not thrilled to hear that, and was even less happy when later in the day Aurora confronted her about her imprisonment of the pixies. “Is it true that you trapped them in a jar, put them in a wardrobe while we had sex, and then turned them into frogs and gave them to the ogres?”  
“Probably,” the fairy answered vaguely, truly surprised that Aurora was angry with her, “I know what I did, but I don’t know what they told you.” Although she was still a little confused about why Aurora would want to make love with her on the balcony where someone in a tower might have seen, but became infuriated at her for allowing her to do so when the pixies were watching, she simply agreed. She was still perplexed about why the princess was fond of the creatures at all to begin with. To Maleficent, the pixies were small-minded, petty, vindictive little mosquitoes that went after whatever was easiest. But realizing that Aurora was truly upset and angry with her, she apologized for her prank, and agreed to never do anything like that again. Unfortunately, while both the dark fairy and the pixies agreed to play nicely together, the animosity and loathing continued to fester under the surface.  
Maleficent gathered up everything that had been her mother’s, and gave King Edward’s sword and bow to Snow White. The wedding painting of Edward and Clecie remained on the wall downstairs outside the great dining hall, and although Snow White mentioned having some of Edward’s journals and diaries, Maleficent was too tired after sorting through all of Clecie’s things to want to sift through more memorabilia. Several days later found them finally returning home, with the pixies, Prince Phillip, his new fiancé Leonard, several of his men, and a wagon loaded with the contents of the secret chamber in Snow White’s castle. Upon viewing her old keep for the first time, Aurora couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Instead of dark and grim, it was a shining white, with the towers and turrets painted in lovely bright pastel patterns, and welcoming banners flying high.  
“Do you like it?” Phillip asked hopefully.  
“Like it? I love it! It’s gorgeous! It looks so cheerful; like you got rid of the evil old one and put something different in its place!”  
“It took us over five years to accomplish, and we didn’t overspend, either. You can’t see them from here, because they’re still small, but I had some cuttings from the roses you loved so much around the entrance of White Castle transplanted around your door. In time, they will grow to be like the parent plants. We all did our best, and I hope you’ll be very happy there.”  
“Oh, I can’t wait to see the inside!” Aurora exclaimed, as they hurried towards her newly rebuilt castle. She was not disappointed, the inside was light and lovely, a smaller copy of the welcoming halls of White Castle, that she had fallen in love with years ago. Looking at the murals of fairyland, and the paintings, she was completely delighted. “Thank you so much! I feel like I’m in a different place, that doesn’t have all those grim memories associated with it!”  
“That’s the feeling we were going for,” Phillip laughed. Then he looked at the fairy, “What do you think?”  
“I feel as though I am back at White Castle,” she observed. The colors and the indoor gardens were quite similar.   
“Maleficent doesn’t like stone walls of any sort,” Aurora laughed, “But I don’t feel like I’m looking at walls at all; it’s like I’m looking through open doors outside. You did a fantastic job! Thank you so much!”   
The welcoming home party began immediately, and continued for several weeks, with Aurora becoming newly reacquainted with her father’s old keep, and the fairy found one of the towers to be to her liking as a library. Aurora correctly pointed out that Queen Clecie’s books, scrolls, paintings, and potions could not be left outdoors in the Moors, or they would quickly become ruined. She met with the lords of her kingdom, and introduced everyone to her fairy wife, and made it very clear from the beginning that they were a couple, and she was not interested in being introduced to a prince for marriage purposes. They were stunned, and some were sullen, but Prince Phillip reminded her that they all owed him and his father large amounts of money, and then told Aurora that they should behave themselves, at least for a while. “Never let them start conspiring behind your back,” he warned her, “Make sure you have morning meetings daily, and watch them for signs of disloyalty and trouble. Make being in your favor to their advantage by bestowing titles, honors, and small gifts to those who are loyal and please you. Play them off against each other so they can’t organize against you. Anytime someone says something is taken care of or not to worry about it, look into it immediately.”  
“I’m a little nervous about ruling here alone,” Aurora confided as he and Leonard were readying to leave a month later.   
“Fairyland is self-governing, and this kingdom runs fairly smoothly. To keep it that way, stay active in supervising the nobles! The people are already inclined to love you, for all the things you haven’t ordered that your father did. Conscriptions and witch burnings are ways of terrorizing the population, and most of the peasants are pleased for the simple fact that those sorts of things have ceased. I’ve already leveled out the tax system and outlawed slave labor, so I would recommend giving the people a few holidays to remember that by, and be fair in your judgments. It’s not the general population you’re going to have trouble with, and as long as they’re reasonably content they won’t support any efforts at usurpation. And if you suspect something is going wrong, don’t hesitate to ask for help!”  
“I will try,” she promised, “And thank you for everything you’ve done for me!” Nonetheless, she felt quite anxious and a little scared as she waved and Prince Phillip rode away with his men. She turned to the fairy and said, “I’m rather nervous about being responsible for all of this!”  
“It will be fine,” Maleficent reassured her. “Just follow his advice, and besides, I’m here,” she smiled. While her presence reassured Aurora, it had the opposite effect on many other people.  
Aurora took a deep breath, and then laughed. It was better to be the queen than not, she smiled to herself. As the weeks and then months went by, she became reacquainted with the lands and people, pleasantly surprised by how agreeable most of them really were, even some of the nobles that had previously made noises about women being unfit to rule. Gradually, life settled into a pleasant routine, and before she knew it, her 40th birthday was upon her.


	40. Queen Aurora

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beloved by all, Queen Aurora enjoys a pleasant and successful reign. She also decides to use the gifts the witch gave her to create their own children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are lots of odd ways writers come up with to explain babies to same-sex couples, but it seemed to me that this Thumbelina-like method has precedents in other fairy tales. Especially since they are gifts from a powerful old witch like the Baba Yaga.  
> Also, the pranic birth described in this chapter is a reality. If you are interested, please check out the book Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin.

Chapter 40  
Queen Aurora

Beloved by all, the entire kingdom celebrated, and she was showered by gifts from the nobles, and appreciation from the peasants. Towards the close of a delightful day of presents, parties, feasting, and dancing far into the night, she found herself high up in a craggy tree, in an old nest relaxing with the woman she loved more than anything else. “There is something I would still like for my birthday,” Aurora told her.  
“What is it?”  
“Remember when I told you I wanted my first child before I had gray hairs?”  
The fairy stiffened slightly, realizing where this conversation was going. “Yes.”  
“Well, I found a gray hair last week. I named it ‘Earl of Drury,’ after a particularly annoying person who I suspect gave it to me. So then I plucked it out. Now, that gives us the chance to start anew…” She paused, noticing the fairy’s expression. “I do want a child. At least one, and I still have the three magical poppets.”  
“Aurora, we have spoken of this before.”  
“And I respect your feelings, however, I’m not going to get any younger. You may have another hundred years, but I don’t. I want a child before I’m too old, and I’d prefer to use the magic and have them be yours. If you refuse, then I’ll borrow a man, probably Phillip, but we haven’t discussed that subject in a long time, so not necessarily.”  
Maleficent was quiet and considering what Aurora had just told her. “You would truly find a man for that purpose?”  
“Yes, I would. I’d prefer it to be the two of us, but if you refuse, there are other ways.”  
“I don’t know,” Maleficent said, “I don’t trust these gifts…”  
“Please trust me on this, and it’s what I would truly love! If anything goes wrong, we won’t do it again, but nothing will! I know you and the witch didn’t get along but she and I had some of the best conversations while you were asleep. Please trust me,” Aurora said gently, taking her hand.  
The fairy wavered, “But I don’t trust it,” she answered.  
“You don’t have to trust the magic or the witch, just trust me,” Aurora said. She waited, and watched the beautiful fairy wavering, wanting to please her but doubting any magical gifts from the Old Wild Hag. “Remember, we left much better off than we arrived,” she reminded her lover.  
The fairy sighed, “Yes, then, I will go along with this, but I have my doubts. Many doubts,” she emphasized. She was going to say more, but Aurora embraced her joyfully, and told her that they had to troth their love to each other anew, and plant the seed deeply under the moonlight, whereupon it would grow. “Plant the seed?” the fairy asked, raising an eyebrow. She quickly figured out from Aurora’s laughter what magic was being referred to, and despite herself, she laughed along. 

Aurora wasn’t worried, she was looking forward to the birth. People had told her horror stories about how everything could go wrong, and while she was sympathetic towards their experiences, that wasn’t at all what she was after. She knew exactly what it was that she was trying to do, and she put a great deal of thought into it. The most important thing was to not have anything negative around; if worst came to worst, she could have the baby by herself and everything would be fine. But she wanted better than a worst case scenario, she wanted to prepare everything beforehand, and to have all the energies; natural, social, emotional, spiritual and magical, balanced and flowing together. No one seemed to know what she was talking about, except the fairy, who tried to hide her doubts, so she was going to show them. She smiled to herself, it was a good thing she had the strength and knowledge that she did; teaching was going to be a joy. Her lover, attentive and doting as she always was, was doubtful, and she was the one Aurora wanted the most to convince. So she talked to her about what it was she envisioned, and while Maleficent was kind and accommodating, she saw the winces. Aurora laughed, “Birth is going to be a beautiful, magical experience. Wait, you’ll see.”  
“Yes, dear, of course,” the fairy said, with a sweet nod. And if it doesn’t, she thought to herself, we still have the spells and potions.  
“You’ll see,” Aurora said, kissing her doubtful lover.  
When the time came, and she was sure that the powerful rushes she was feeling were going to result in a baby and not another false hope, she awakened her lover with a kiss. She didn’t say why, she just held her, enjoyed the feel of her lips and arms, and told her how much that she loved her.  
“I love you too, dear,” Maleficent answered sleepily. “Why did you awaken me in the middle of the night to tell me so?”  
“A new form of magic that you’re going to like,” Aurora said sweetly, and laughed. She admired the dark lashes of her lover, blinking closed again in the moonlight, and the way her wings had a tendency to fold over her as she slept. One would wad up behind her like an old cloak, the other would form a sort of canopy for the rest of her body. She ran her hands over the fairy’s face and hair, feeling the different forms of softness. Lovely, delicate smooth skin, and then thick, silky hair; she drank in her essence through her fingertips, delighting in the sensations and the thought that she been blessed enough to have known her, and touched her in such intimate ways. Powerful rushes were flowing through her body, along with a profound connection to the infinite. Some part of her touched everything, everywhere.  
The fairy felt it, the magical energies within and around her were heating up, and she opened her eyes. Loving energy was building, making the birth of the baby happen. It was something new and wonderful, and she was quiet, waiting for Aurora to tell her what to do. But her lover, sitting beside her and smiling with the secret wisdom of millions of mothers over the millennia, said nothing, only held her hand and shared the high. The intensity of emotion, and the smooth flowing of magic between them made a beautiful, homey sensation, and welcomed the new baby into the world with warmth and love. Aurora rode each rush with excitement and joy, feeling higher with each wave. When she felt like pushing, she did, and sat up on her knees, to make it easier. Moving to the unseen rhythms, that felt so much like that day so long ago when they had been swaying together by a crab bucket, she breathed deeply and leaned into her lover’s arms. There was a moment when Maleficent wasn’t certain where her hands should be; holding Aurora up, or catching the slippery baby. So she stretched herself in each direction, and Aurora fell back in grateful, joyful exhaustion against her left arm and wing, while the right hand guided the newborn. The fairy caught Aurora, gently lowering her to the cushions and blankets, while her other hand did the same for the baby. Quickly checking the child, she was pleased to discover a tiny baby girl, looking around in amazement and making little noises that sounded like talking. She picked the baby up, noticing the wet butterfly wings, still unfurled and stuck to the baby’s back. Pausing, she gazed into the baby’s blue eyes, so much like Aurora’s, and was amazed when the infant said, “Hi.”  
“She’s talking to you,” Aurora said.  
“Indeed,” the fairy said softly. “Hello, little one.” She admired the newborn, briefly distracted by the necessities of attending to the afterbirth and all the solids and fluids that had come into the world with the beautiful new baby, but it was an excellent use for magic. Truly however, she was stunned at how pleasant and joyful the birth experience had been. Aurora had been correct, she thought, and their baby was perfect, a lovely little butterfly fairy with delicate, colorful wings and a darling little face. So the witch’s gift wasn’t cursed, Maleficent thought. No death, no hideous goblin-like child with scales like a lizard man, no diabolical disasters at all. She was astounded, and wasn’t sure what to think. The experience had been magical and soulful; the result a lovely little fairy baby.  
“See, my dearest,” Aurora smiled and kissed her, “Everything was wonderful, just like I told you it would be.”  
“I would not have imagined it to be so,” the fairy admitted.  
“So trust me,” Aurora reassured her, “Trust me.”  
So the fairy did decide to trust her in these matters, in which she freely admitted that she had little experience. Their child was absolutely delightful, and when she was three days old, Maleficent took the tiny baby out into the forest in the moonlight and blessed her into the Realm of Faerie, and gave the child a gift; the blessing of intelligence. “Forgive me for assuming,” she told the baby, who stared at her as though a little insulted, “But my experience with butterfly fairies has convinced me of the necessity of such a gift.” The baby gave her a look, one that reminded her of Aurora when she had something planned. While the dark fairy worried about their child having pixie-like attributes, Aurora was planning a grand naming celebration, out in the delightful palace gardens. She was also, to the fairy’s horror, planning to invite the three meddling, idiotic pixies. Guests began to arrive up to several weeks early, and Snow White was thrilled with both the new baby and an opportunity to help plan an event. Phillip laughed merrily while Maleficent stood by, holding the baby, and shaking her head.  
“Everything will be fine,” Aurora tried to reassure her. “I know that you don’t get along with them so well, but I am still quite fond of my aunties, and the pixies will give nice gifts…”  
Maleficent did not agree. But instead of arguing with her lover, she asked a favor of Rudyard the Wizard, and hoped that it would not be necessary. The wizard chuckled, and thought it was all jolly good fun. “Only if necessary,” Maleficent reminded him. He laughed as he smoked his pipe, and told her that one of the few constants they could always rely on was pixie foolishness.  
On the day of little Summer Sky’s Blessing, all Nature cooperated to make a wonderful background. After an exquisite sunrise, the birds sang and the wind blew soft and sweet through the rose gardens and the bright, colorful flowers in the full bloom of summer. Fairyland had spilled over into the human realm, and the sparkling fey mixed freely with the Men and Elves who had been invited. Friends, countrymen, guests, and relatives had gathered from far and wide to attend. Snow White had been all aflutter with excitement as she planned the event, and everything was perfect in the gardens, as the ceremony began.  
As expected, the first pixie gave the princess the gift of beauty. Everyone applauded, it was always a sure winner. The second fairy then bestowed her gift, that the child should never be blue. Maleficent scowled at the miscreant pixie and looked around for the wizard, who was supposed to interrupt when this sort of foolishness began. Where was he, she wondered, hoping that he was not needlessly delaying somewhere, smoking pipeweed. Then the third fairy proudly gave her gift, and it was even worse; that the princess should always be agreeable, and do whatever she was told. Aurora knit her brow in concern, but Maleficent was livid. That was no gift, that was a curse, and one about as bad as it could be. She was about to leap out of her seat when billowing blue smoke arose from nowhere, and a voice cried, “Halt!”  
Everyone froze, and the gray-haired wizard stood there, long white robes swaying in the morning breeze, leaning on his staff, and his wild eyes and great bushy brows frightening the three pixies sufficiently to make them fly away behind Aurora’s chair. “I too, shall bestow a gift upon the child,” he announced, the crowd silenced but the birds all aflutter in great excitement. “For seven years the pixies’ gifts shall indeed please her parents, but after that, all magical pixie presents but the princess’ added beauty shall fade away, and in its place, I give a far greater gift; the blessing of common sense. By the time she is sixteen, she will be a very beautiful, and also extremely practical, princess.” With that, he laughed merrily, as did the baby, and the crowd looked confused, while Aurora looked concerned, and Maleficent smiled with relief at the wizard, who met her gaze with a warm twinkle in his eyes, and she laughed, knowing that he hadn’t had this much fun in years. With a dramatic burst of smoke and blue flames, he vanished.  
The crowd erupted into comments and the birds flew off to spread the news. Aurora picked up the baby out of her flower blossom cradle and the pixies followed her, staying well away from the dark fairy. “But she’s a butterfly baby,” they insisted.  
“What a terrible curse for a fairy who takes more to the truer type,” the pink pixie exclaimed. The crowd seemed to echo her sentiment, for various reasons. None of them but a few elders seemed to think much of the wizard’s gift. Others were calling it an outright curse. Most of them left the garden quickly, getting to the buffet lines as soon as possible. The baby princess and the magical gifts would still be there tomorrow, but the free food would definitely be gone. The casks of wine and kegs of beer would be the first things to go.  
The pixies bemoaned the terrible curse the wizard had laid upon the infant princess, but Aurora picked up the baby and looked over at her fairy consort, who was smiling. She knew who had invited the wizard, and why. But this was not the time to discuss it.  
“Oh, common sense!” Snow White giggled, “Could he have picked a more boring gift?”

It was the same, almost five years later, at little Spring Dawn’s blessing. Once again, Maleficent snuck away with the infant to grant her the gift of intelligence, and asked the wizard to correct any baneful pixie “blessings.” Although Maleficent had been against using the witch’s gifts at all, she could not deny that they had brought Aurora great joy. Both children were butterfly fairies, but different from each other. Summer was green eyed, with pink gossamer wings that fluttered gently, and she was a shyer version of Aurora, with Maleficent’s dark hair. Quiet and thoughtful, she never rushed to do anything, and as she grew, she became increasingly beautiful, but also very practical and efficient. Her younger sister Spring reminded them both of Clecie, with her big blue eyes, sparkling cerulean butterfly wings, and long golden ringlets. Although she had received the same gifts from the pixies and the wizard, she manifested them in a far different manner. Nothing like her shy and quiet sister, Spring flew out into the gardens during the night, to dance wildly with the other fairies. Her parents watched in quiet wonder at how different they were, while they were yet small children.  
“There is only one left,” Aurora said, pulling the last of the magic dolls out of her medicine bag. She held it out on the palm of her hand, and smiled brightly. “There were three, and I used two. The results have been our Spring and Summer. I’m offering it to you, and I hope that you will accept, and experience some of the magic that I have. If not, then I want to use this one too, and in all likelihood, have another beautiful butterfly fairy child for us to love. The choice is yours, my dear.”  
“I do not trust the witch,” Maleficent said softly, “Although she had an unusual kindly notion towards you. She told me once that she saw you as a fluffy, friendly cat that purred frequently, and heaped rodents upon her doorstep, and that she liked it. Me, she saw as a troublesome, querulous creature. There is no doubt in my mind that she let me live only because she had a fondness for you as a mistress does for her favorite pet.”  
“We had an agreement,” the princess turned Queen smiled happily. “I gave her near seven years of my service plus all the odd treasures she shook down from Snow White, Phillip, and your unconscious body,” Aurora laughed. “I bargained only for you, but I think she was so happy with my mousing talents that I came away with not only you but these wings and the potential of a beautiful, magical future, that no other mortal could ever hope for. I couldn’t have spent my time doing anything more fulfilling or rewarding, even if I had planned it. Even so, it was a test, and I passed it. Among mortals, I have been loved and blessed above and beyond all others, and I know it…”  
Maleficent was listening, but she was also thinking. It was not just the foolish pixies gifts at work, there was something else. Another power, deeper and far stronger, was moving. The fairy took the little feather and hair twist poppet, and gazed upon it with suspicion. What if the witch decided not to eat one fairy in order for her to go out and make more, that she perhaps might enjoy eating more. Maleficent did not trust the old hag at all, and wondered what hidden motives might lie beneath, “Yet you know that she has an inordinate craving for tasty fairy flesh,” she reminded her lover.  
“True. But you’re not the only fairies in existence, and our two children have been delightful. It’s not cursed, we already know that. If you don’t want to use it, so be it, but I would like to, before I get any older. I’m already forty-nine, Maleficent. I know that’s not significant for fairies, but it is for humans.” She smiled at her fairy love, who as she knew, wasn’t paying attention to such things as age. Indeed, Aurora thought, she’s intentionally not noticing. At over eighty-five in human years, the fairy still looked much as she had for the duration of the time they had known each other. With a sly smile, Aurora decided not to mention anything about it, and see how many years it took for the fairy to once again broach the subject of their age difference, and most importantly, the difference in their rates of aging. Perhaps she never would, Aurora wondered. She was certainly aware of it, however, for she was the one who had first spoken of it.  
The fairy eyed the little twist of hair around a feather. It was a clever little dolly, something that would have taken a long time to create, or was heavily imbued with magic, and she knew full well that it was the latter. Yes, the two children Aurora had borne from the same magic were happy, healthy, and beautiful butterfly fairies. So she wavered, and Aurora said, “I have had two wonderful experiences, and this is the only one left. I feel like I’ve been rather selfish, really, using up two of them and having all the fun.”  
“I would not have thought pregnancy and childbearing would have been fun,” Maleficent admitted, “Had I not seen that twice in person.”  
“But that’s the way things are supposed to be,” the Queen smiled, “Other people are doing it wrong.”  
“Perhaps you are unusual,” the fairy wondered aloud. “After all, you do have magical healing abilities that are a rare blessing as well.”  
“And that should make you feel quite secure,” Aurora said, “I’ll be there, and so will Snow White,” she laughed.  
Maleficent looked at her and said dryly, “Hooray.”  
Aurora laughed, “She didn’t sing at my last birthing, I’m sure she won’t at yours. Besides, who would have guessed that she was actually good at something?”  
“After fifteen plus babies of her own, and over fifty grandchildren, I should think she would be quite good at it,” Maleficent agreed. She was holding the tiny hair and feather dolly up in the moonlight, and was starting to waver. Aurora was smiling, convincing, and wanted to share something that so far had been wonderful. Yet…  
“Do it,” a soft, sweet voice whispered to her kindly. “A child born from you has much more innate magical power than one born from a human.”  
“What?” the fairy asked. “What did you say?”  
“Only that Snow White…”  
“Go on,” the lovely voice whispered, “This is your only chance, and your daughter will have great powers.”  
She hesitated, the mysterious voice definitely wasn’t Aurora, though they did sound similar. And what exactly was she so worried about? Women had babies all the time, and she would have Aurora there to heal her if anything did go wrong. “Very well,” she agreed.  
“I’m so glad,” Aurora said, embracing her. “It will be wonderful, you’ll see…”


	41. The Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent gives birth to twins, one beautiful angel who looks like Aurora, and one little green dark fairy with yellow, cat-like eyes. The pixies believe that all dark fairies are evil, and attempt to place binding spells on her magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The little green baby is Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty! Everyone except her parents are afraid of her because of her weird eyes, horns, and an odd skin tone, and reject her. The pixies especially are awful to her from the moment she's born. They have a black and white view of the world, maintaining that they are "good fairies," and that anyone with horns is demonic and obviously evil.

Chapter 41  
The Gifts

Perhaps wonderful is not quite what I would call it, Maleficent thought, sitting on a high bluff, looking out at the surrounding countryside. Although it had certainly seemed magical at first, she began to feel ungainly, and extremely ungraceful. Being in the castle also rapidly became intolerable. She didn’t like the constant presence of humans, and especially not their rude staring and even worse, touching. Whatever made some of them think that they had any right to put their hands on her at all? She didn’t mind the company of Aurora or Snow White, but she didn’t want any other humans around; she hoped Phillip and his friends would understand. She enjoyed having their children with them, but quickly discovered that the two little girls were quite fast, and she was awkward and slow, something she had never been before, and didn’t cherish at all. To her further chagrin, Aurora laughed. Good naturedly, of course, because she understood quite well how it felt, but Maleficent was often too uncomfortable and irritable to find the humor in it. When Diaval and his lady friend visited, they all laughed together.  
“Poor darling,” Aurora would say sadly, “We’re not laughing at you, but rather I’m commiserating with you. Most of the time, we’re not even talking about you, but you’re upset and angry anyway. Unfortunately, you seem to have utterly lost your sense of humor.” Then she would try to hug and kiss the disgruntled fairy, only to discover that she would be rebuffed.  
Worse, were the three pixies. Maleficent had told them on no uncertain terms to stay away from her, and if they cast any sort of magic; spells, blessings, anything, she would kill them. She said it clearly, with no uncertainty, to make sure they understood her meaning; three dead pixies. Although she had made the threat, they still spied on her, which amazed the fairy. What exactly were they hoping to find that was worth risking their puny, troublesome lives for? With a sigh, she realized that was part of being nosy and bothersome meddling fools, making poor decisions. It was bad enough that they were a part of the older children’s lives, but Aurora had insisted that her three pixie aunties, whom she was still so fond of after all those years, be allowed to visit with the babies. The dark fairy disapproved, and told Aurora exactly how appallingly neglectful they had been when she was little. Aurora smiled and nodded, reassuring her that competent humans would be with their children when they couldn’t be, the pixies were allowed to visit and play, not supervise. Maleficent still had her doubts, but Aurora was confident that the little butterfly princesses were in good hands.   
“It will be over soon,” the blond queen smiled, two black ravens perched alongside her.  
Maleficent wasn’t so certain, and was only glad that Diaval and his mate had left their quite large flock out in the trees, and not brought them all indoors to caw at her. “Why did I let you talk me into this?” the fairy asked rhetorically. “You said things like ‘magical,’ and ‘wonderful,’ and I distinctly recall you assuring me that there would be ‘fun.’ I am not having fun,” she explained one afternoon, while Aurora reassured her kindly. Maleficent almost believed her, until Diaval took human form to laugh at her. “When I catch you…” she began, which made Aurora laugh, and the fairy scowl. She wouldn’t be able to catch him for months, at least. That would involve standing up quickly and running, which she would not be doing for a while. She eyed him, wanting to indulge in some less-than-beneficial magic, but resisted.  
“I’m sorry for giggling, dear,” Aurora said. “But…”  
“But…” the fairy repeated.  
“But,” the queen said gently, “You’re uncomfortable, and because of that, meaner than a snake! So,” she explained, while the fairy stared at her in disbelief, “Why don’t you go relax by yourself, and just enjoy the peace and quiet? Once the new baby comes, we will be even more busy…”  
“What!” the dark fairy exclaimed, “But…”  
“We love you, very, very much,” Aurora assured her, “And…” she paused, unsure how to say that the uncomfortable dark fairy was frequently frightening in her quick temper and had thoroughly scared everyone with her death threats against the pixies.  
“But we want to keep on loving you,” Diaval explained, “And that means not terrifying everyone by being evil…”  
Aurora elbowed him, and he stopped talking, turning back into a bird and flying up out of sight and immediate reach of the irritable dark fairy. Aurora put her arms around her beloved, and said softly, “You need to rest and be alone for a little while…”   
So she slipped away to her own home, her little nest up in the tree. And she cherished the solitude. It was far nicer to feel the energies of the world and spirits without noisy people around. Any creatures were enough to upset her etheric sensitivity, and she usually knew who was approaching before they did.  
Enjoying the quiet up in the mountains one afternoon, thinking she was alone with her thoughts and the wind through the trees, the fairy heard something nearby, and it wasn’t a nice presence. She normally felt the approach of any creature, and so was surprised when she turned around to find the she-devil had been watching her. She startled, and asked, “What do you want?” She was certain, beyond all doubt, that Adrastia wanted something.  
“It’s time you took your curse off of me,” she said. “You had your fun with that bizarre spell of the witch’s, and I took my curse off of you. Fair’s fair,” she declared.  
“Why should I?” the fairy asked angrily. The delicate, smooth energy flow of the morning was quite ruined with the she-devil’s rough, angry emanations. Now there would be disturbances, and she would be upset by whatever lies came out of the creature’s mouth.  
“Because I’m asking you nicely,” Adrastia said. “I can tie you to a tree and set fire to it, if you’d rather do it that way.”  
“I would rather be left alone,” the fairy said, moving aside as Adrastia reached for her. She was surprised when the she-devil erupted in laughter. “What is so amusing?”  
“You’re barefoot and pregnant up on a mountaintop,” the she-devil laughed, “Oh, I should have expected that!”  
“What do you mean by that?” the fairy demanded.  
“No gold, servants, or palaces for you, however often I might try to convince you. Always sleeping in trees when you’re not enjoying the hospitality of hideous old witches and sleeping on their dirt floors. Why didn’t you stay in the grand palace off east, like everyone else would have done?”  
“I chose not to, and I’ll thank you to stop mocking me.”  
“Very well,” the she-devil said, “Take your curse off of me and I’ll go away without laughing at you anymore.”  
“How very generous an offer,” the fairy answered sourly, “I should demand something of you, as I know full well you would do to me.”  
“I do not demand things from you!” Then she paused and regarded Maleficent’s condition, “Did you lay with Trent? He would make a beautiful baby.”  
“What? No! He’s lost on some outer plane, isn’t he?”  
“I saw him just yesterday, playing a lute by the lake down yonder for two wood nymphs.”  
“Although that does sound like what he would be doing, I have not seen him in years.”  
“Then who’s child is that?” the she-devil demanded.  
“There are more options than only your former sex-toy,” Maleficent snapped.  
“Let’s see, then,” Adrastia said angrily, reaching out to grab the fairy, who turned to flee. But Maleficent had forgotten about the she-devil’s quick, nimble tail, and quickly felt it wrap around her ankle.  
“Let go of me!” the fairy demanded, pulling on her entrapped ankle and shoving Adrastia’s grasping hands away. An excruciating burst of fiery energy entered her body through the she-devil’s hand, and drained away again through the entrapping tail. In its wake was the immense relief of its absence, but also the trail of where it had been. Neither of her unborn children had been happy about being shocked, either, and flailed around.   
“Oh,” Adrastia said, sounding rather amused, “Two girls, one of which looks like your blond girlfriend. On one hand, I’m not surprised, on the other, how did you do that?”  
“Why did you do that?” Maleficent asked, catching her breath, and gasping as the last fiery pinpricks of pain dissipated away through the she-devil’s tail.  
“Why did I do what? Find out what you’re having? Because I’m curious.”  
“That didn’t only hurt me, you wounded my unborn babies as well.”  
“And I’ll do it again, if you don’t take your curse off of me, right now.”  
“You are truly evil,” the fairy answered.  
“This from the scorned fairy who curses an infant and then marries her when she grows up? You’re the cradle robber, not me…” she stared at the fairy and then said, “Fine then. Let’s assume that I’m evil, and that I don’t mind setting you on fire, or shocking you until you have two dead babies. Take the curse off. Now.”  
Reluctantly, Maleficent withdrew her curse of lying ugliness on the she-devil, who shimmered briefly, and then giggled in delight, as her appearance took on a sultry effect, and she changed her clothing to match.   
The she-devil pushed Maleficent while jerking with her tail, causing any further spells to abort, while the dark fairy struggled to regain her balance and fell against a tree. Adrastia twirled around and admired herself. “I’m beautiful again!” she laughed in delight, running her fingers through her long red hair. “Oh, that was like being a cage!” she exhaled. “All thanks to you and your rotten curses.”  
“How could even you do that?” Maleficent said.   
“Even me? Do what? What are you complaining about now?”  
“You’ve hurt me before, of that I’m not at all surprised, but I am disappointed that you would injure my children.”  
Adrastia turned on her in a fury. “Your children! Your children! Oh, yes, there will be only the best for your children! Would you help me with mine? Oh, not a chance! Would you help me get my daughter back from her father? Would you come to the palace and help me when my children were little? No, of course not! Did you help me with my son’s problem when I asked you to? No, again! Because my children aren’t important, just yours,” the she-devil concluded with a hiss.  
“That wasn’t at all what I meant,” the fairy answered, surprised by the she-devil’s outburst.   
“Yes it was,” Adrastia said to her with a cruel smile, meant to disguise her anger, but it only made it even more grotesque and twisted, “Because you think you’re better than me, and you always have. Now you think that your perfect little elf-fairies are far finer and more worthy than my ugly little devils. That’s what you think, isn’t it?”  
It was in fact what Maleficent had been thinking, but she had certainly never said any such thing. Even if Adrastia’s true form was gruesomely ugly, and her husband was definitely no handsome prince…  
“You’re thinking it now!” the she-devil fumed. “Well here’s a baby gift for you to think about! Every time you tell a lie, the baby that looks the most like you gets uglier. How’s that for fair, you wicked fairy? And no, I won’t lift the curse unless you come to my palace and beg me to! Enjoy your lovely little princesses, Maleficent!”  
She sighed as the she-devil took to the air and vanished through one of the portals. Perhaps the devil’s gift would not be as bad as it had been intended. If she remained up on the mountaintop by herself most of the time, until the babies were born, she wouldn’t have the occasion to tell lies; not that she normally did anyway. Lying and manipulating was Adrastia’s way, not hers. It bothered her far more that the infants had been exposed to the intense negativity of the she-devil’s spell and energy field, along with the agonizing burst of fiery torment that had lit up every one of their nerve endings with pain. That couldn’t have a positive effect upon any of them, she thought sadly. If only the she-devil hadn’t done that!  
Sadly, she decided the best thing to do was to simply tell Aurora what had happened.  
“Isn’t there any way we can permanently rid ourselves of her?” the queen asked.  
“Not that I know of,” Maleficent answered. “One of my great regrets in life is offering to be her friend and taking her home! Everything else has come around to have some silver linings in the clouds, but her presence has been only dangerous and disastrous!”  
“Although she did claim to have taught you how to use magic.”  
“She’s taking credit for an accident,” the fairy replied, “Although no doubt she would interpret that as a lie.”  
“Many things can be interpreted as lies, depending upon the viewpoint of the listener and the teller,” Aurora said. “As much as I will miss you, perhaps the best thing to do is for you remain alone out on the cliffs until close to day of birth. Then there is no chance that mere differences of opinion could be misinterpreted by the she-devils curse and cause known and unknown damage.”  
“Agreed,” the fairy answered. “And solitude is not that bad.”  
“Again, things that can be misinterpreted as lies that are really only differences of opinion.”  
So, with tearful goodbyes, the fairy left for the next several months of solitude. She found the quiet most agreeable, and had rather missed it during all the years she had spent with Aurora in the castle. While she loved Aurora and their little butterfly girls dearly, they required constant attention and supervision, which didn’t leave much time for reflection and meditation. She smiled off at the distant clouds, and thought about how this was probably her last period of solitude for many years to come. Bearing that thought in mind, she enjoyed the silence. She wondered many things as she wandered the forest, most of all, what would the little fairies look like? Surely Adrastia’s curse hadn’t had much of an effect, she was all alone. Aurora had used the Yaga’s magic twice and given birth to two lovely little princesses with butterfly wings. One blonde, one brunette, but both delightful, and fortunately, the wizard’s gifts of common sense had negated the terrible effects of the pixies ill-thought out curses wrapped in a blessing. Of course, even without the she-devil’s curse, the witch could have prepared an unpleasant surprise for her. But would she? Maleficent thought about it at great length. The time they had spent with the witch had seemed onerous at first, and they had resented the things she made them do. Until they had babysat for the Onionskin family, of course, which had made the witch’s smelly hut seem like a refuge of serenity. She laughed out loud as she reached for an apple, and thought about Bart Onionskin. What a monster, she giggled to herself. Perhaps, after the babies were born, they should visit that part of the Forbidden Forest, and let the children experience ogres. Then again, she wouldn’t want her children getting crotchroaches, whatever those were; they never did quite figure that out. She laughed again, remembering the fat little ogress informing her proudly that they had the biggest crotchroaches anywhere. Perhaps that was a mystery that must remain unanswered, she chuckled, along with the magic barn. She never had found that, either. But now was not the time, she reflected. If she required a servant, she could create one from an animal or fey creature, and she already had a beautiful golden haired princess to love and be special friends with. What exactly would she be looking for? I should have asked the magic mirror when I had a chance, she thought. But she hadn’t been thinking of such things at the time, and now the mirror was gone; Aurora had slain the mirror with a rock, claiming that some dreadful spirit of evil abode in it. She smiled, it was funny now, but she hadn’t thought so at the time. Packing up boxes of books, and taking only those potions that were likely to hold beautiful memories, she had turned around to see the princess hurl a stone at the mirror, which had howled dreadfully and shattered.  
Now it was all gone. The rooms of Queen Clecie had been emptied, the treasures Maleficent wanted boxed up and taken, the dangerous poisons, concoctions of blood, and other doubtful things had been burnt. Snow White was relieved to be rid of them, wanting to keep only Edward’s sword, bow, and journals. Despite having been completely cleared out, to that day, no one used the rooms.   
She wandered freely and silently during the day, but returned to her nest at night to sleep. Unbeknownst to her, the pixies had figured that out, as well. Curled up under one of her own wings, she slept quietly, more worried about interference from the she-devil than from the three traitorous pixies.   
“What are you going to do?” Fauna asked.  
“Something we should have done a long time ago,” Merriweather answered.  
“Turn her into a toad?” Flora asked, “Or banish her? I was always for banishment, if you remember. From the moment her mother dumped her on us, I’ve been for sending her right back where she came from. Between devils and her own wickedness, she’s wreaked destruction and devastation on all of us for long enough.”  
“Watch,” the little blue pixie answered, and bravely flew out of the bushes, to hover above the sleeping dark fairy. “Tiny babies two, this blessing I give to you; In childbirth she will die, and finally, Maleficent, we will be rid of thee!”  
The other two pixies gasped in shock, as the swirling blue sparkles of fate surrounded the sleeping fairy in the darkness, and Merriweather quickly flew back to her sisters and they hid in the bushes. Maleficent stirred uneasily in her sleep, and shifted around uncomfortably.  
“Merriweather!” Flora said in surprise, “That was black magic! That’s not what we’re supposed to do! We aren’t allowed to curse people! We’re only supposed to do good deeds.”  
“That’s not a curse,” the blue pixie argued, “It’s a blessing! Just think about all the awful things she’s done, and will continue to do in the future. We can’t allow her to keep on doing these evil deeds. Somebody had to do something! Her mother was wicked to the core, and so is she. If Aurora raises the children without that awful Maleficent around, they might have a chance of being good.”  
“But, that’s evil magic,” Fauna said, with real fear, “Something bad will happen to us, because you did that. Especially while she’s pregnant; what if your spell goes wrong, and there’s something wrong with a baby?” she asked, flitting around nervously.  
“It won’t,” said the blue pixie angrily.   
Flora gasped, “But Merriweather, that was a death curse, that’s very evil magic.” She paused and added, “And black magic casts a shadow back on the caster.”  
“Don’t be such a scairdy-cat,” the blue pixie said. “We should have done something years ago, and now I finally did! Besides, she threatened to kill us! Several times!” The dark fairy cried out in her sleep, as though having a nightmare, and the three pixies quickly fled, flying back to the castle where Aurora and her children slept peacefully. The three pixies never spoke of Merriweather’s spell, and just carried on as if it had never happened.  
When Maleficent awoke in the morning, she felt an unhappiness that she had thought long past. A feeling of darkness and despair had come over her, and she didn’t know why. The solitude turned to loneliness, and her silent enjoyment of the winds of the world faded into angst. For some unknown reason, she felt sundered from the life force that she had been basking in so freely. Instead, there was an ominous cloud of doom that seemed to be growing in her mind. I shouldn’t be unhappy, she thought, where has this come from? Perhaps the she-devil had cursed her again, she thought, but it wasn’t like Adrastia to do anything subtle; there hadn’t been any more shocks or fireworks. Never did she associate her malaise with the pixies; indeed, she didn’t think about them at all. The next few weeks found her feeling even lonelier, and the closer she came to the time when she should be looking forward to the birth of her babies, she found that rather she was dreading it. There is nothing to worry about, she told herself, I will have whatever herbs or potions I want, and Aurora will be there to help and heal me. Where is this darkness coming from? She often found herself crying or thinking about the Halls of Mandos.   
One morning, the vague dis-ease that had been plaguing her mind became physical, and it was close to mid-afternoon before she realized that she was in labor. She had been toying with the idea of simply staying in her nest, and having her babies all alone, but the discomfort became intense enough that she longed to have Aurora with her. Picking some of the analgesic herbs she preferred, she flew off to the castle, and was greeted by her true love with open arms.  
“Is it time?” Aurora asked, embracing her. “I’ve missed you so much, we all have!” She took the herbs from the fairy’s hand and laughed, “We have lots of this, you know.”  
“Yes, I know, but I brought some anyway,” Maleficent smiled, “Just in case you’d dropped most of it in the dust or gotten it muddy.”  
“My coordination has improved dramatically since my early childhood,” Aurora laughed. “I’ve quite grown out of messing everything up.” Then she sighed, and said, “There’s dark circles under your eyes. Have you been sleeping?”  
“Not well,” the fairy admitted. Indeed, she slept in the afternoons, and spent her nights thinking anxious thoughts. Some of her waking hours were spent dwelling upon those dark, misty memories of the time she had been dead. She knew quite well her way to the Halls of Mandos, and felt that the spirits of the dead were again calling her name, assembling at the dark gate to welcome her once more with open arms. No, she told herself, cutting those thoughts off. It is time to welcome new souls, not depart the land of the living forever.  
“What’s wrong?” Aurora asked, feeling something amiss.  
“I don’t know,” the fairy admitted. She knew what her symptoms were, but not the cause.  
“You’ll feel better soon,” Aurora said hopefully, kissing her. “The last few weeks of pregnancy are difficult, and uncomfortable.” She paused and said, “Oh, I’m so glad to see you!” She squeezed the fairy until she squeaked, and then the Queen released her with a giggle. “I didn’t mean to crush you, I just missed you so much!”  
“Gently, my love, gently,” the fairy smiled, and embraced her lover. Not ever wanting to let go, she enjoyed the arms of her beloved until they were interrupted by Snow White and the two young princesses, who were also overjoyed to see her again. Drinking a mild sedative potion that Aurora prepared for her, she set her dark thoughts aside, and visited with her family until later in the evening, when her discomfort became much stronger. She didn’t want to call attention to it, and was disappointed that she wasn’t experiencing the mellow but powerful rushes of power that Aurora had, but instead was likely to call the sensation she was feeling by its more familiar name; pain.  
Snow White noticed and said, “What Aurora had was unusual. Most women don’t think of childbirth as an ecstatic experience. Some of mine hurt worse than others, but I don’t remember any of them being magical, like hers were.”  
Maleficent sighed and said dryly, “Thank you, Snow White. What I lose in enjoyment I shall hopefully gain in brevity.”  
Snow White giggled and tried to figure out what her sister had just said. “Everything will be fine,” Aurora assured her. “You don’t have to feel anything if you don’t want to. I can make a potion for anything, or heal you if necessary.”  
“Yes, you’ll be fine,” Snow White added happily, “And I can’t wait to meet your adorable new babies!”  
But everything was not fine, as they had hoped and planned. Drinking herbal teas and potions all night long, the fairy was quiet, and bore her discomfort with silent stoicism, waiting for it to conclude. Disappointment rose with the sun, as she found herself still in labor. Despite their kindness and gentle assurances that her discomfort would soon end, the day wore on, becoming ever more agonizing, and by evening, the fairy was screaming, despite the potions and Aurora’s healing spells, and everyone was tired. Aurora made them more teas, more potions, and cast the first of several healing spells upon the fairy, who was given some brief and temporary respite from her discomfort. Aurora held her most of the evening, and made more potions as they passed an uncomfortable, miserable night. They all expected the babies to be born any time, but yet the sun rose on a weary, still-pregnant fairy.   
“I don’t understand,” a tired, sleepy Snow White told her distraught sister, “You should have had your babies last night.”  
“If I could have, I would have!” Maleficent snapped at her. “What could be more fun than this?”  
Aurora didn’t respond, but decided to make her a sleeping potion, so at least the fairy would rest. They were all tired, and if Maleficent slept, then she and Snow White could at least catch a nap, and their tempers would be soothed as well.   
“Drink this, dear,” Aurora said, handing her the sleeping draught.  
“What is it?” the fairy asked.  
“It’s a sleeping potion,” Aurora answered as kindly as she could, being that she hadn’t slept either, and was not only tired, but edgy and tense from listening to the fairy scream. When Maleficent started to argue, she said firmly, “No, just drink it. Please, for the love of the gods, just drink that and go to sleep so that we can rest too!” The words came out stronger than she had intended, but they had the desired effect. The startled fairy took the cup and sipped the contents. Fortunately, the potion stayed down, and sleep came quickly. Aurora sighed, and noticed that Snow White had already fallen asleep in a big, comfortable chair, her feet propped up on a stack of cushions on a blanket chest. “Please,” Aurora softly begged the gods, “Let her sleep for a while and then let this be over quickly!” Then her eyes closed, and she fell asleep.  
She awoke to crying, and hearing Snow White say, “It can’t last forever…”  
Aurora took a deep breath and sat up, wondering what time it was. Night, was all she could discern. There was silence throughout the castle, except in their room, and a shrill, fairy shriek echoed off the walls. What’s wrong? Aurora wondered. Why is this so awful? Scooting over across the bed, she noticed a tired Snow White seemed to have aged terribly overnight. She really needs that beauty sleep, Aurora noticed with a start. Then again, Snow White was over ninety years old, her beloved husband King John having died the year before. Looking across the room into a mirror, Aurora realized that at almost fifty, she needed her beauty sleep, too. Exhaustion caused little lines and bags under her eyes that weren’t normally there. Age holds more than gray hair in store, she thought to herself. The only one of us who doesn’t look like she’s aged is Maleficent; she’s still as beautiful as ever. Another scream refocused her attention, and she apologized for her quick temper earlier. “I’m sorry,” Aurora told her again.  
“Why,” the fairy cried, “Why did I let you talk me into this?”  
Explanations and apologies flowed freely, as did the potions; soothing, numbing concoctions for the fairy, and vibrant, energizing drinks for Aurora and Snow White. By morning, Aurora was thinking of alternatives. “Maybe you could transform them into something small and then return them to their proper forms,” she suggested. “I know it sounds cruel, but you can’t go on like this.”  
“I already tried that,” the fairy answered with a tinge of guilt.   
“You did?” Aurora asked in surprise. “What happened? Why didn’t it work?”  
“I don’t know,” Maleficent answered, “I summoned the magic, but nothing happened.”  
Aurora bit her lip and felt defeated. What now, she wondered. What options remained to them? The fairy should have given birth days ago, she was ready, and there was no discernable reason why she hadn’t. She put her arms around Maleficent, and tried to think of something soothing or helpful to say, but nothing came to her. When the fairy screamed yet again, she only sighed, and waited. She felt like a liar, telling her that all would be well, when it so clearly wasn’t. Even the healing spells, which should have aided and speeded the process, were ineffective. Tired and frustrated, she gave in to the urge to cry.   
“Maybe we should ask someone else for help,” Snow White suggested. “I know you didn’t want any strangers here,” she said to her sister, “But I can’t think of anything else we can do.”  
“I don’t care,” the fairy answered. She had abandoned shame and stoicism days ago, and began to understand that the darkness she had been feeling for the past several weeks was the portent of her own death. The Halls of Mandos awaited, and if she bit her lip to hold back the urge to scream when the crushing pain rose up again, she could hear the voices of the dead, calling. Closing her eyes, she remembered being called back from the dead by Aurora’s singing, and noticed that this was the reverse. This time, she would leave Aurora’s arms, and follow the voices of the dead through the emptiness. Voices and people came and went, and she was tired of listening to her own screams echoing in her ears; the haunting sounds of the spirits were soothing by comparison.   
“She’s going to die, isn’t she?” a small voice asked. Aurora and Snow White startled at the fluttery sound of butterfly wings, and they then turned to see the tearful face of little Spring.  
“Oh, of course not,” Snow White countered quickly, with automatic cheerfulness. “You’re so quiet, dear, how long have you been there?”  
“A few minutes.”   
The pixies were supposed to be watching little Spring and Summer, keeping them busy while the babies were being born. “Where are your aunties, dear?” Aurora answered.  
“Arguing outside,” the little butterfly fairy answered.  
“About what?” Aurora asked, feeling a sudden suspicion. The pixies wouldn’t, couldn’t have… could they? Maleficent and the three pixies hated each other, and their mutual loathing had grown stronger since the dark fairy’s capturing of the pixies and keeping them in the bottle; and then giving the bottle to Bart Onionskin, as she remembered. Maleficent’s threatening the pixies with death several months previously had fanned the flames of hatred even hotter. Maybe the pixies had thought of a way to get even; perhaps even to kill the dark fairy, Aurora wondered. But that wasn’t possible, they couldn’t curse. But one thing was certain, she thought, they were supposed to be keeping the little princesses busy, not outside arguing. “I want to talk to them,” she said, taking the girl’s hand and going over to the window. She overheard their bickering, and demanded an accounting. “You cast a spell on Maleficent,” she said, “What was it?”  
None of the pixies wanted to tell Aurora the truth, so Flora quickly made something up, “Oh, well, we just wished that she would go away,” she answered.  
Getting the feeling of being lied to, and it made her remember that tone so well from her childhood, that she knew they were guilty. “Whatever it was, undo it,” she commanded them, “Now.”  
The three pixies nodded, and flew in the window, where Snow White was looking very tired and holding her quite miserable sister. Merriweather flew forward and motioned for her sisters to go with her, “Let’s all cast it together,” she said, hoping to divert attention away from herself. “A regular revocation should do it…” She didn’t want to be specific, then Aurora would know what they had done. The other two joined her in lifting the curse, but since the energy was all blue sparkles, with fiery orange undertones, it was fairly obvious whose spell it really was.  
Maleficent glared at the pixies, and said, “Do not, under any circumstances, come near me or my children again, or I will kill you. I should have done it before, and I won’t spare you for the sake of others again…”  
Snow White interrupted, “Now, there, there! Let’s not make things worse! Threatening each other is how we got into this terrible situation…”  
“There were two curses there,” Aurora observed, as the blue energy dissipated, but the orange fire receded back into the fairy’s body.  
“My old friend the she-devil,” the fairy whispered, feeling a massive rush of pain and energy coming over her.  
“Oh, that’s right!” Aurora exclaimed, while the pixies hurriedly flew away, not waiting for the fairy to grab at or curse them. They need not have worried too much, as the exhausted dark fairy was breathing heavily and felt like pushing while a giant’s invisible hand was squeezing her middle. Unfortunately, the pushing sensation also made her feel like she was going to split in two, and it wasn’t pleasant at all.  
“Oh, that was the problem, all right,” Snow White sang happily, observing her sister bearing down and getting ready to push. “Baby in a minute! I’m so glad we’ve got that cleared up…”  
“No!” Maleficent told her, “No singing! Absolutely no singing!”  
“All right,” Snow White agreed, “But I am going to sing to the babies.”  
“Whenever I’m not in the room,” the fairy answered, and then caught her breath, before she could specify any more restrictions on her sister’s spontaneous eruptions of song.   
Aurora took her lover’s hand and squeezed it, then, having her attention, put her arms around her and said, “This is the strong part, where you have the baby! Concentrate on that, and let’s make it beautiful. Remember how it was when I had the older two?” She knew that the fairy did remember that, and hopefully could set aside her anger at the pixies, and ignore any spontaneous singing on the part of Snow White. The anger was certainly justified, but they could deal with traitors after the birthing, not during. The negativity was going to ruin things even more than they already were, if they didn’t simply start afresh from that moment. Aurora kissed her, and said, “I love you. Where were we before a curse interrupted?”  
The fairy understood, and kissed her back, trying to let the energy flow naturally, as it was meant to. They would never have this moment back, so she left everything else behind, and concentrated on the one she loved, and the most important thing, which was her babies; everything else was a distraction. Yet it seemed she didn’t have much of a conscious choice; her body had been ready to give birth for days, and the magic had been preventing her. With the pixie’s curse lifted, birth was imminent. The giant’s invisible hand squeezed again, and it seemed to have no regard for whether it broke her in half in the process. She didn’t care about anything at that moment but going with the forces that flowed through her, and with Aurora holding her so there was no chance of falling, and Snow White there beside her to attend the baby, she pushed along with a powerful wave of energy, which caused Snow White to squeal, “Oh, the baby is almost here!”   
“It is?” Maleficent asked, feeling out of control and not liking that sensation very much. She also felt very undignified, and wasn’t fond of that, either, especially the messy splashes of blood and fluid that came completely unannounced and of their own accord. Then, with a feeling like someone was putting a large, hot iron ring between her legs, she gasped and realized that the first baby was born, and that Snow White was holding on to a slippery little creature, cradling her gently while wrapping her in a tiny blanket. All Maleficent could see at first was a blood-stained, twisted white wing, and a long, ropey cord that went from the newborn into herself. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, and enjoyed a brief respite from the squeezing pain.  
Aurora noticed the wing bent over, and wondered if maybe that had been the real problem. One of the newborn’s downy white wings was bent over her head, instead of being tightly curled up against her back. She watched while the wing unfurled with a graceful flourish, to reveal a truly lovely little face, with enormous blue eyes, cherubic pink lips, and her mother’s exquisite high cheekbones already visible.   
“Oh, what a beautiful baby!” Snow White exclaimed in delight, and bursting forth into joyous song. Aurora agreed, as she leaned forward and deftly cut the umbilical cord; her magic healing and cleansing. The child was stunningly attractive, and was smiling prettily at them, enjoying their appreciation. She can’t have staged her own entrance like that, could she? No, that’s silly, Aurora thought to herself, she’s less than a minute old. Snow White sang a spontaneous little ode of joy to the baby, who gazed up at her with huge blue eyes, and an enchanting, tiny smile. “You’re so beautiful,” she told the baby again, beginning to dance with her near the window, and the birds joined her, “Absolutely perfect! You’re our beautiful angel baby…”  
Maleficent opened her eyes, and was relieved to discover that the baby was indeed very beautiful, seeming quite untouched by Adrastia’s curse. She sighed, and while not thrilled by Snow White’s singing, concentrated upon giving birth to the next baby. Aurora held her, and said, “Snow White, if we might interrupt and borrow you for a moment.”  
“Oh, of course,” Snow White giggled, setting the beautiful newborn in a cradle and returning to assist. The baby was not at all delighted at being put down, and began to cry; a heartrending wail of loss and abandonment. “Oh, I don’t think she agrees…” Snow White’s commentary was interrupted, however, by the second baby, whom she noticed immediately had no wings. Most babies didn’t, of course, there was nothing unusual about that, it was the infant’s color that wasn’t so good. Greenish-gray babies had a tendency to be rather dead, she thought. Although maybe this one wasn’t, and so she kept that opinion to herself, and as soon as the baby was born, she wiped the fluid from her nose, and started rubbing her chest and tiny arms and legs, seeing if the baby showed any signs of life. She was definitely strange, that much was obvious, Snow White thought, with little horn nubs, and extremely long fingers and toes. She wrapped the little baby in a blanket, and was about to warn Aurora that the child might be stillborn, when she opened her eyes, and Snow White gasped, stifling a scream and almost dropping the baby. She had enormous, yellow cat’s eyes, with no white at all, and they looked very evil, indeed. “Oh!” she exclaimed, “Oh, my!”  
Maleficent heard all the noise, and after one last push, delivering the placenta, asked, “What is it? What’s wrong?”  
Snow White handed her the evil-looking baby, and stepped back, letting Aurora lean forward to gaze at the child. She had tiny horn nubs on the top of her head, poking out of her long, thick, dark hair which already reached her little green shoulders, and a narrow, thin face, her mother’s high cheekbones, with an unusually pointed chin for a baby. It was the eyes, however, that were unsettling; glittering golden yellow and unblinking, like a cat’s, staring intently. Aurora was surprised by the baby’s appearance, and sat there wondering what to do or say, while Snow White picked up the other crying infant, soothing her with another song about how enchantingly lovely she was. Maleficent was quietly holding her newborn, and pulled a tiny hand out of the blankets, looking at the long fingers. She smiled as the baby’s color improved, turning from sickly, greenish gray to a light, leafy springtime green. The baby’s long, spindly hands, spiderlike in their grace and already tipped with little silvery claws, wrapped around Maleficent’s finger.   
Aurora however, wasn’t sure what that meant, and was still worried. “Is green a good color for fairy babies?” she asked delicately. None of the others had been green, and this one didn’t have wings, either.  
“She is,” Maleficent answered softly, “A dark fairy of the pure type. I am very surprised.”  
“Shouldn’t she have wings?”  
“I don’t know, I’ve never met one before, only heard of them in stories.”  
“So the eyes…”  
“Are normal for true dark fairies, yes,” she answered softly. And for the dragon-born, she thought. Those eyes look familiar to me, I saw them years ago, in a dream. A very strange, physical, magical dream that was unlike anything else, more like a moment spent out on the edge of time. She recalled the tree in the center of the meadow, and all the spells that had been contained in its leaves, and the runic flowers with their heavenly, hypnotic scent. It was when she had picked the sparkling, golden apple that the dragon had appeared. She stared in amazement at the baby, and wondered if she had come from the union of fairy and dragon, there in the spirit world beyond time. Why else would she have those eyes? Dark fairies were very rare, perhaps for a reason no one else had yet considered; their true origin. Then a less than joyful thought crept into her mind; why had Clecie borne a half-dark fairy? She shivered, and thought now that perhaps it was a very good thing that Aurora had destroyed the magic mirror.   
“Are you unsteady?” Aurora asked, noticing her shaking.   
“Perhaps,” the fairy answered, feeling very cold, “I think I should lie down.”  
“I think so, too,” Aurora said, helping her to get comfortable, wings behind her, with blankets and pillows propped around to keep her warm while she shivered.   
Aurora cleaned up the after birth mess, and used the time to collect her thoughts. One beautiful, golden-haired, winged baby and one tiny, green dark fairy with unsettling eyes. People might learn to overlook her unusual coloration, and maybe her horns, but there was no hiding those eyes. They weren’t human eyes at all, they were brilliant yellow, with narrow black slits for pupils, and gave the child an evil look. She had horn nubs, too, and Aurora knew exactly how other humans were going to react to her. She would have to live with the other fairies; they couldn’t raise her in a palace where people might scream at the sight of her, could they? Looking over her shoulder at Maleficent, she saw that the fairy had fallen asleep, no doubt from exhaustion. She was lying on her side, holding the newborn dark fey baby, who was still partially awake, and Snow White had gone back to singing by the window with the beautiful one. Birds were joining in their chorus, and Snow White held the little darling up for the pixies and the two butterfly princesses to see their lovely new little sister. They were all quiet, not wanting to give away their positions to Queen Aurora, who might not approve of the pixies being there, since Maleficent had specifically forbidden them to be anywhere near her newborns. The two older girls were supposed to studying, or taking recess in the gardens. The baby was lying there contentedly in Snow White’s arms, her own tiny hands demurely folded, accepting all of this as a passably acceptable welcoming into the world, giving Snow White a charming little smile for her efforts. With a start, Aurora realized that she’d seen that adorable smile before. The mysterious visitors at the witch’s hut, years ago! The white winged angel who had thrown her hood back to wink and smile conspiratorially. So the other cloaked figure, so mysteriously veiled, had been her twin sister. She looked back at the little green baby and wondered, how? How had they done that? And why? So had the witch known all of this, all along? She resisted the urge to suddenly shake Maleficent awake and tell her what she had just figured out, instead letting the exhausted fairy sleep. Then, realizing that she was quite tired herself, she lay down next to Maleficent, and looked at the little green fairy baby, who had also fallen back asleep. She’s beautiful, too, Aurora thought, it just takes a minute to appreciate it.  
Snow White sang until the beautiful angel baby also fell asleep, and then setting the wonderful little bundle of joy back in the cradle, relaxed on the cushiony chair, putting her feet up on the blanket chest, and with a tired sigh, quickly fell asleep herself.   
Outside on the tree branches with the birds, the two butterfly princesses and the pixies were whispering about their first introduction to one of the new little princesses. “I want a closer look,” Flora said, “That wonderful, beautiful child! Oh, she is like an angel! Just like our dear, sweet little Aurora used to look! Do you remember how adorable she was as a baby?” Flora turned to say to her sisters, who nodded in nostalgia.  
“It seems like only yesterday,” Fauna said, “And now we should have a new little baby to love, but Maleficent isn’t going to let us.”  
“We’ve already had one look, and we’re not supposed to go in there until we’re invited,” Summer Sky told them, flapping her pretty pink wings and floating upward. “Do what you’re told and you won’t get in any more trouble; and you’re in enough of that as it is.” She looked at them sternly, brows furrowed and hands on her hips. This wasn’t hard to figure out, but she was beginning to realize that her beloved pixie aunties were rather stupid. She thought that if they weren’t winged fairies, they might otherwise have been assigned laundry duty or shoveling out the stables with Johann the Simple. “Auntie Snow White showed us the baby, now it’s time to go.”  
“Yes,” little Spring Dawn echoed, the colorful butterfly bows in her blond hair bouncing up and down, “You don’t want to get into trouble!” She was only five years old, but had already begun to suspect that although the pixies were kindly, they were also rather slow of wit.  
“Of course,” Fauna agreed, “You will have lots of time later to play with the baby.” Summer nudged Spring, and told her that even if the pixies didn’t do what they were told, they didn’t want to get into trouble, too, and especially not for anything the pixies did! Spring quickly agreed, she didn’t want to be anywhere around if their silly aunties angered the mommies and the spells started shooting from wands and fingertips. Flying away from the window and back down into the kitchen gardens, the princesses went back to the games they had been playing, and picking fruit. Spring Dawn had an insatiable craving for cherries, especially the yellow ones with the red blush sides. They also wanted to escape from the pixies oversight long enough to talk together unheard by the others. Feeling clever, they were avoiding their studies, and spoke to each other of faraway places, dashing handsome princes, unicorns, dragons and maids with hair of silver and gold. Their dolls had the most excellent adventures! So much more fun than writing summaries, they giggled.  
Feeling even more clever to have distracted the children, the three pixies flew back to the window where they had heard Snow White singing, and noticing everyone asleep, they silently flew on in. They floated over the angel’s cradle, admiring her great beauty. Her little face and hands were perfectly composed in cherubic bliss, while the newborn down of her white wings dried, leaving them looking wonderfully soft and fluffy. “We won’t be invited to the Naming Ceremony,” Flora said sadly. “Maleficent is going to try to keep us away from these two.”  
“We could give them gifts now,” Fauna offered. “Then we and the babies don’t feel like we’ve been cheated.”  
“Oh, let’s!” Flora agreed. “Oh, this one is already so pretty, but…” she grinned, “Little princess, I give you the gift of beauty!” They all giggled, and the swirling pink sparkles that fell on the baby princess gave her a supernatural radiance, her hair seeming to glow in a halo above her head. “She will be so lovely!” Flora predicted sweetly, and they all sighed in grateful appreciation and admiration. Oh, the joy of being a good fairy, able to bestow such wonderful blessings! They swooned around together in a swirl of pixie twinkles, basking in the glow of the newborn goddess of beauty.  
“Little princess,” Fauna said, “I give you the gift of song. To sing so sweetly that even the vicious beasts of the forest will lay down at your feet.” Green sparkles and magical bird-forms swirled around, and the sounds of a heavenly choir singing was heard off in the distance and then settling around the princess.  
Then Merriweather took her turn, “Now I can give my favorite gift, without it being ruined by Maleficent or that grumpy old wizard!” she exclaimed. “Little princess, I give you the gift of never being blue! You shall walk in joy and happiness all of your days, beloved by all.” A ray of sunshine from the heavens opened up, and little iridescent periwinkle butterflies and bluebirds of happiness fluttered down upon the sleeping princess. The pixies swirled around in glittery glee, and rejoiced in their success.  
“What about the other baby?” Fauna asked. “What about her? I heard that they were twins.” Flying around, they quickly located the other baby, sleeping in Maleficent’s arms, Aurora curled up beside them, an embroidered floral quilt pulled over herself. They were all deep in slumber, as was Snow White, who had fallen asleep in a nearby comfortable chair, her stocking feet perched on top of the blanket chest, a soft pillow under her heels. The three pixies flew over the bed, and looked down in concern. “Is that baby green?” Fauna asked softly, in a whisper. “She looks a little long and pinched, too.”  
“Oh, no,” Flora said sadly, “It’s a dark fairy! Oh, and we thought Maleficent was bad, and she’s part air elemental! This child is pure dark fairy, and all evil sorcery and black magic. She’ll be wicked for sure!”  
“Then let’s do something about it,” Merriweather said.   
“It certainly is ugly,” Flora said sadly, with a clucking noise.  
“We can’t hurt a baby,” Fauna disapproved, “Even if it is an ugly dark fairy baby.”  
“Then let’s bind her,” Merriweather suggested. “We can bind her magic somehow, so that she can’t use it to hurt people with.” They were gazing down at the baby, when Merriweather began to wave her wand, little blue sparkles falling on the tiny green baby, who then startled and opened her eyes. The three pixies screamed in terror at the evil, yellow dragon’s eyes staring up at them, and flew away as the baby started to cry, waking Maleficent, who was almost certain that she saw green, pink, and blue glittering pixie trails.   
“There, there, little one,” Maleficent said softly, holding her crying infant, and soothing her, put her to the breast. She kissed the top of her tiny green baby’s head, and whispered, “Did those wicked pixies frighten you?” The baby squeezed her finger, which she took to be a yes. She admired her newborn as she nursed, her ruby lips, delicate, thin features and dark raven hair that fell in long tresses to her green shoulders. She wondered at first what the soft little vibration she was feeling was, and then she realized that the baby was purring; just as the dragon had! She stared in amazement at the newborn dark fairy, her eyes slowly closing, so contented and cozy she had begun to purr, like a tiny kitten. The little fingers curled around her own were already graced with bronze, silver-tipped claws. Curiously, she checked the infant’s feet, and discovered the same claws and equally long toes. Wrapping the baby back up again, she began thinking again about dragons, and how much everyone underestimated them. Extremely intelligent and with innate spell casting abilities, their claws and teeth were the least of the concerns when dealing with them. She thought about the dragon’s spirit which had taken up residence in the magic mirror, and how Edward the Dragonslayer had given the mirror as a gift to his new wife. Clearly, he’d had no idea what he was doing, or what the dragon had done. Revenge was probably the dragon’s motive, and another reason why Clecie had been unwilling to let Edward see her firstborn occurred to her. The dragon’s spirit had presumably died, however, when Aurora destroyed the mirror, she thought. She had been annoyed at her lover at the time, thinking that perhaps Aurora had begun to identify far too much with her barbarian medicine woman persona, but in truth she had sniffed out the evil and acted quickly. So the mirror was gone forever, she thought. Now all there was to do was rid themselves of the three evils Aurora never could correctly identify, and Maleficent fell asleep again, the tiny infant in her arms purring contentedly, smiling as she thought of all the different ways she could put a final end to the pixies.  
Aurora introduced Summer and Spring to their new baby sisters the next morning, when everyone was rested, cleaned up and presentable. They discussed possible names, and set a date for the Naming Ceremony. While the two butterfly princesses were quite accepting of their new, dark fairy sister’s appearance, others were not so kind. Rumors of a devil having been born in the castle began to spread like wildfire, and Aurora began to worry for the infant’s safety. There were people who still didn’t like Maleficent, after all these years, and considered the newborn to be her demon spawn, and considering the damage that the elder dark fairy had wreaked, they were busily discussing ridding themselves of the green, devil-eyed child before she could grow into a monster. Aurora was deeply saddened by these cruel rumors, and while she tried to actively shield Maleficent from them, the fairy found out anyway.   
She was not surprised to find the dark fairy in their room crying, on the third day after birth. Aurora didn’t have to ask why, she knew. She put her arms around her lover, and tried to soothe her. “They may in time grow to accept her,” Aurora hoped. “Snow White and the older children do fine, here or in the fairy realm. It will be the same.”  
“It will not be the same, and you know it well,” Maleficent answered bitterly. “Family members might love her, but no one else will. They will always fear her and shudder, whatever she might do. They will call her evil, curse her name, shun her, and then someday some arrogant bastard calling himself a hero will try to kill her in order to make a name for himself.”  
“Oh, darling!” Aurora exclaimed, “Yes, some people might be unkind, but it’s a leap from gossiping to murder…”  
“Unkind?” Maleficent snapped. “They will treat her even worse than they act towards me, and that is horrible enough!”  
“I’m sorry,” Aurora said. She knew full well that people saw horns and assumed devil, just like they saw her own brilliant white wings and beauty, and worshipped her as an angel of goodness, just like they would the unfortunate dark fairy’s radiant sister. “What should we do?”


	42. Of Dark Fairies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fairies come in many types, and dark fairies aren't necessarily evil, but the pixies certainly think so, and continue to call themselves "Good Fairies," while implying that Maleficent and her green skinned, horned daughter, who is named after her but called Mallie for simplicity, are wicked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will never write anything that has two characters with the same name again!

Chapter 42  
Of Dark Fairies

The only thing to do, considering the danger to the newborn dark fairy, was to take her back to the Moors where she was safe from assassins wielding knives over her cradle. While Maleficent and Aurora were saddened to spend so much time apart, while the little one was still powerless to protect herself, there was little else they could do. Everyone, it seemed, feared the child, and humans reacted in terror to her presence. Queen Aurora had to maintain positive control over her kingdom, and some of the more contentious nobles, even ones who had come to care for their white-winged, fey-loving queen, were suspicious of the demon-child. Even some of the fey creatures were frightened of or at least shy around her. The pixies certainly didn’t like her, and both Aurora and Snow White extracted promises from Maleficent that she wouldn’t kill them. It was only with much pleading and wheedling that she eventually agreed; and only because Aurora cried. One unexpected bright spot was the reaction of apprentice sorcerer Prince Phillip, and his teacher Rudyard the Wizard. They appeared at the castle several days after the twins were born, excitedly looking for the newborn sorceress. Rudyard explained that true dark fairies were very powerful and extremely rare; her education should begin immediately, for which purpose he and Phillip volunteered themselves.  
“She’s less than a week old,” Aurora told them, “And Maleficent has already taken her to be with the other fairies.”  
“No worries,” the wizard smiled and thanked her, and after tea and supper, they were on their way.   
Maleficent was not unsurprised to see them, and while she hadn’t been looking forward to entertaining guests, Phillip and the wizard were not too troublesome, and tried to make themselves useful. The wizard offered to train her child in high sorcery, and the dark fairy accepted, on the condition that all teaching was under her supervision, and that the other children were not to be left out. The wizard seemed hesitant, reluctantly agreeing to possibly including them, until Phillip offered to instruct the other girls, as he anticipated they would be going at a much slower rate than the newborn sorceress. Maleficent was skeptical, and told them, “We haven’t even named the twins yet.”  
“Oh, that’s easy,” Phillip piped in cheerfully, “You just name them after yourselves, of course! The infant sorceress is named Maleficent, after you, and her sister is Princess Aura, after Au…” He was interrupted by the wizard’s elbow.  
“Please excuse that little outburst,” Rudyard said, “A wizard with foresight must learn to keep his opinions to himself unless asked!” he told Phillip sternly. “A wizard’s apprentice even more so,” he said with emphasis.  
“It is not a bad idea,” the dark fairy answered, “We have been unable to decide upon names that suit, and I have only been calling her Little One.” She looked down at the tiny green baby in her arms and said, “I will discuss it with Aurora when she visits tomorrow. The other children and Snow White will be coming along, as well, to remain here for the summer.”   
“And the three pixies?” Rudyard asked.  
“The pixies,” Maleficent repeated, a dark cloud coming over her face, “I loathe the vile creatures. They are traitors and deceivers who have the audacity to refer to themselves as good fairies!”  
“Yet,” the wizard said, “You cannot deny that after everything, Aurora remains very fond of them. Please try to remember that from her perspective, they did raise her, and so will always have a special place in her heart. That said, we must endeavor to keep them away from the newborn dark fairy, as they will again try to do her harm. Between the three of us, however, I would think that will be sufficient deterrence for the pixies.”  
“They are not intelligent enough to know that,” Maleficent noted, “They will attempt to do something foolish.”  
“As I have noted in the past, one of the few constants we can always rely on is pixie foolishness,” the wizard said.  
So Phillip and the wizard set up camp in the Moors, and Aurora was delighted to see them when she arrived the next day with the other children and Snow White. Phillip told her of everything that had taken place, and also relayed to her of events at White Castle, and many other things besides, including how the latest T&T module he was running turned out. She was quite taken with the idea of naming the twins after themselves, as well, and later that evening, talked Maleficent into it. “It’s so sweet,” Aurora laughed.  
“Perhaps,” the dark fairy answered, “Although I would not have inflicted my name upon anyone. If she dislikes it when she is older, I shall point at you.”  
“And I shall point at Phillip,” Aurora giggled.  
“Which is why,” Rudyard said to his apprentice, “That a wizard keeps his own counsel unless specifically asked.”  
“Duly noted,” the prince answered with a laugh. The lesson however, was not lost upon him.  
“Oh, it’s all right,” Snow White laughed. “I think it’s so sweet, and they are both such darling little babies. Even her eyes aren’t so unsettling, once you get used to looking at them, and the purring is adorable, just like a little kitty cat! Her face is really quite pretty, and she certainly has your lips, Rose Red.”  
Maleficent sighed, “I suppose she might as well have my name, as you have certainly never needed to use it.”  
“Silly!” Snow White laughed merrily, “I didn’t mean it that way! You’re beautiful, and so is your name and your baby; all of your babies!” Then she had a wonderful idea, and exclaimed, “I know! We could name them after us! They could be Snow White and Rose Red! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”  
“I like Phillip’s idea,” Aurora said.  
The summer passed by in an instant, and for the most part, the pixies were wise enough to stay away from both dark fairies. They were also leery of the wizard, who seemed to them very gruff and grumpy, always looking at them askance under his great bushy eyebrows while puffing his pipe and smelling of smoke. When the autumn leaves began to turn and fall, Aurora took the older girls and their pixie friends back to the castle with her, and Phillip left Fairyland with Snow White, to return the elderly queen to her home at White Castle. Phillip then returned to the camp he shared with the wizard, and Aurora visited whenever she could, bringing the two butterfly princesses with her. Although the girls wanted to remain in Fairyland forever, Aurora knew that they needed to become aware of humans, and learn the social skills required to deal with them. She knew firsthand that it could not be done by frolicking in woodland glens with magical creatures. Humans were different, and the princesses would need to know how to handle them. Later that same year, they were all saddened by the death of Snow White, who died in her sleep, never to awaken, regardless of love, tears, or whoever might kiss her.  
Time passed by as if in a flurry of flowers and snowfalls, finding the twins seven years old when the venerable Diaval passed away, his mate having succeeded him several years previously. They left an enormous flock of ravens behind, and Maleficent noted that he’d gotten that great extended group of family and friends that he’d always wanted, but that she had thwarted. Although it was a sad occasion, he had well exceeded the life expectancy of an average raven, and had become smaller, quieter, and a little shabby-looking. Many black feathers, once shiny, graceful and long, were missing or droopy. He died on a quiet summer day in Maleficent’s lap, while she petted his wings, but not before he bequeathed a gift upon the younger dark fairy. The fledgling Diablo, whose parents had died unexpectedly, was now an orphan, and an odd-looking little fellow at that. The young dark fairy promised the aged raven that she would take good care of her new friend.   
Little Maleficent was indeed already a formidable sorceress, while her twin sister Aura excelled in the arts of singing and performing, and at all manner of manipulations. The young dark fairy was extremely shy, and disliked being seen by any humans; finding most interactions with them to be socially awkward to the point of being painful. Acutely aware of her differences, she strove to avoid them. Her elongated fingers and toes were just the start of it. She was leafy green, very thin, and rather tall, while she grew horns like her mother’s. It was her glowing golden eyes, however, that terrified people, and she often wished that she had “normal,” eyes, that didn’t frighten humans and other fairies. She was quiet and more comfortable talking with plants, animals, and spirits than with people, and most of all being alone, feeling those etheric vibrations that made the magic flow, especially when she sunned herself on a warm rock, reading old spellbooks for entertainment and purring. No one else purred, either, which made her feel even more strange and different. They didn’t swim like she did either, able to remain underwater for days at a time if she chose. Her green skin, at first a puzzlement to her family, actually had a most useful purpose. While she needed to drink water, she could absorb energy from the sunlight as the other green, growing things did. During the summer, she ran about in only a thin gown, and never needed to eat anything. In winter, when she had to cover herself for warmth, and her ability to take nourishment from the sun was curtailed, only then did she eat like other people, and her skin lost its greenish hue, becoming more of a greyish-lavender. At such times she reminded her mother of a rosebush under heavy snowfall, dark and shivering, waiting for the return of spring. At first her family had pitied her, not having wings, but she quickly came to pity them. Not only could she dive deeply and swim, she could simply appear wherever she wanted, like the wizards did, while they had to walk or flap all the way there. While she didn’t relish walking long distances, she did learn to dance, and very beautifully, interpreting her sister’s wonderful songs into motion. Humans might not ever appreciate the dark fairy’s graceful movements, but wizards and other fairies did, and oftentimes in the evenings, when their mother sat quietly and the wizards smoked their pipes, Aura sang from boredom, and little Maleficent danced for enjoyment.  
The Princess Aura was a wonder of grace and beauty, talked about far and wide, as rumors of her loveliness had seemingly spread to the four corners of the earth. Her splendorous white wings differentiated her from mere mortals, and made her seem more a seraphim than a human, a fact she was very conscious of. When she sang, the beasts of the forest stopped to listen, and all the world wept with joy. She learned what magic her mother forced her to learn from the wizard’s apprentice, finding it tedious at best, since her attitude was that she could use her shy, bookish sister for that, much as the quiet, green girl never sang but instead danced while Aura made the music. She could bless, charm and enthrall with her lovely face and beautiful voice. Those were the only spells she would ever need. There were far more important things for her to do, and she informed her mother and the wizards that she was ready to move into the castle, she had grown bored with the Moors and magic lessons. Most of all, she had tired of dirty nests and campsites. No more, she told them, her older sisters lived most of their time in a castle, and she wanted to as well, pointing out that she also would need to learn how to manage humans. She wanted a proper bed, privacy, and servants. Her mother continued to squelch her ambitions, until she convinced her twin that in the castle, she could have a proper library, and a magical study. No more redrawing the boundaries of enchantment anew every time she wanted to start casting spells, she could have her own space! Little Maleficent thought about that in great detail while she petted Diablo’s head, and decided that would be wonderful indeed, so she supported her twin’s ambition to move to the castle.  
Rudyard the Wizard however, vehemently opposed such a move, saying that the risks to the young dark fairy were still far too great. One iron spike or spear, well-thrown at the proper moment, could easily kill a small child, whatever her magical gifts might be. To Aura’s consternation, her mother wholeheartedly agreed with the wizard, who then suggested that if the children required indoor accommodations, perhaps the old watch tower on the mountain could be repaired, and outfitted with conveniences. Little Maleficent was thrilled with the idea, and the elder was happy about a permanent place to put her own mother’s spell books, potions, and notes where there was no chance of them being burgled through by ignorant pixies or ruined by the weather. Rudyard had amazing spells that no one had ever imagined he possessed before, powerful enchantments that moved stone and earth, while Phillip and the dark fairies assisted him as best they could. So they set to work repairing the beautiful old castle, once a great defensive fortress of Men and Elves in the twilight of the Second Age, when hordes of Orcs and goblins began to spread across the land, and this distant northern outpost had been destroyed by an ice dragon. The wizard told them the story of said long ago battle, and while Aura was mostly interested in beautiful princesses and handsome princes, young Maleficent was fascinated with dragons, something that seemed to cause evasiveness and even a nervous twitch in her mother, who flatly refused to discuss dragons, especially with small children. She would say only that such creatures were far more cunning and dangerous than they appeared on the surface, and that was completely aside from their teeth, claws, and hard scales. It was their magic and talking you had to be concerned with, she sometimes said, before distracting little Mallie with water spells and stories of mermaids. Mother is a bore, is what Aura would then say to her twin sister, going on to complain further about their pointless isolation in a tumbledown old castle, outfitted not with conveniences but with antiquities from the Second Age of the Elves, the Land Before Time.   
The young dark fairy loved the restored old tower, and it was her favorite place to be. Built by the Elves long ago, it had once been magnificent. To call it a mere fortress was to downplay drastically its original beauty. An architectural wonder, the great castle rose up out of the rock itself, and balanced wonderfully atop an enormous outcropping. She loved imagining what it had once looked like, so very, very long ago. So many elegant halls and spiral stairways, with secret chambers for cloistering herself, she felt as though she finally had a real home. Aura whined and wheedled, wanting not just an indoor bedroom, but a place with people in it. “People,” she emphasized to her mother and the wizards. “I need real people! Not dancing fairy creatures, not ghosts, not talking frogs, I need people!”  
“I think you are confusing needs with wants,” was her mother’s response. “We have a delightful little court here all to ourselves, with fairies, wizards, and each other. Our home is perfect the way it is, and you have adorable little korpokkurs for servants, you do not need humans. Play your harp and sing for us, while your sister dances. We have a lovely little fairy court right here.”  
Aura’s response to her mother was to run away one night, and appear in the proper human castle, crying and refusing to go home. Everyone felt sorry for the beautiful Princess Aura, kept prisoner by her unreasonable and unsociable dark fairy mother, and so at long last, Aurora talked Maleficent into allowing their angelic daughter to live in the castle, and have contact with humanity.   
“Aura is in no danger,” Aurora pointed out, “It is only our little dark fairy whom suspicious humans will want to harm. They will leave the beautiful angel quite alone, until she is old enough to be of interest to them in a more adult manner.”  
It would have been a simple matter, except that the twins did not do well when separated, both becoming sad and anxious, fretting about what the other was doing. Not at all happy but sacrificing her own wishes for those of her children, Maleficent agreed to partially move into the old castle, and that whenever Aurora could find the time, they would return to the magical fairyland that she called home. In the evenings, Aura enchanted everyone with her beautiful singing, and against their mother’s better judgment, young Maleficent danced to the heavenly music. Aura’s soaring, beautiful voice held the ears of all listeners, while they were captivated by the graceful, green-skinned dancer’s movements. She started wearing a veil, held over her face and suspended from her still-nascent but growing dark horns by golden rings, to shield her eyes. Without being able to see the dragon’s gaze, her audience was able to relax enough to enjoy her dancing. A long, diaphanous gown concealed her strange feet with their elongated toes. Everyone but the elder Maleficent and the wizards were delighted with the move, and Aurora even confessed to her that she was happy to have her lover back again, on a nightly basis.  
“Humans have needs, my dear fairy love,” Aurora said, kissing Maleficent, “Much more so than fairies, I have noticed.”  
“But I have missed you, too,” she answered, “You cannot think that I have stopped loving you!”  
“Oh, that’s not what I think at all,” the queen laughed, “It’s holding you in my arms and tasting your sweet lips and more that I desperately miss!”  
“I have told you before that I did not mind if you satisfy some of your physical needs with others,” the fairy said.  
“Having sex with other humans gives them the grand notion that they may then sit upon my throne,” Aurora laughed, “And they don’t need to start thinking that. Besides,” she smiled, running her hands over the fairy’s breasts, “I would much, much rather have you! I’m quite spoiled these days. Why should I even consider such lowly options when I have become used to my lovely dark fairy? With her beautiful face, wings, and brilliant green eyes, why would I ever settle for less?”  
“You have me every night during the summers,” Maleficent laughed softly, “And it has only been a little more than seven years.”  
“Closer to eight, and seven years is nothing to a fairy, but everything to a human,” Aurora told her. “Remember my first gray hair? Well, now it has many friends, and the glitter above my head is not gold but silver. Don’t you laugh, my fairy love!” Aurora joked, noticing the laughter that was her pretty fairy wife’s response to any such discussions. Perhaps, she thought, Maleficent is still very much in denial about humans and aging, and she simply refuses to see it. “So,” she concluded, “I plan to enjoy your body as well as your love for as long as I can.”  
“You’re being silly,” the fairy laughed, as Aurora kissed her way down her front, fingers already having found their destination.   
“So be it, then,” Aurora murmured, her tongue and kisses slowly approaching the fairy’s nether lips, “Even if I someday get too old and befuddled to tie my own shoes, I will still always want to do this.”


	43. Of Pixies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The three pixies, who insist upon calling themselves "Good fairies," have tried unsuccessfully for many years to rid themselves of Maleficent. They come up with a plan to punish Maleficent for having pulled pranks on them, and outwitted them so many times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the thought of Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather dressed up as dominatrixes really disturbs you, then skipping this chapter is advisable!

Chapter 43  
Of Pixies

Aurora was not the only one aging, and Maleficent had been a little girl when the pixies were already somewhat old. Now they were definitely elderly, and weren’t happy about it. They were also quite round, due to a near-constant habit of treat and cookie-eating in the castles of humans. Merriweather, formerly Flittle, had tried another age-removal spell, and succeeded in halving not only her age but her height as well. The girth however, remained. The dark fairy was less than pleased to be reintroduced to them after over seven years of peace and quiet without their noxious noises and comments. She also observed their habits, and was stunned to realize that their affinity for humanity came not from a bid for power or a vague desire to “do good,” but rather their incessant snacking upon the sweetmeats and delectable delights prepared by human cooks. Peeking around a corner one afternoon, she witnessed a most telling example, where the pixies were pilfering frosted truffle confections from the Queen’s own supply, eating them with unrestrained gusto, rolling their eyes in delight and making very loud, almost ecstatic noises while doing so. “Mmmm… Gruuummm… Ohhh… Ummm…”  
It was fascinating to the dark fairy as she watched; the pixies weight gain was no mystery! They had grown larger while staying with Snow White while she and Aurora were serving the Old Wild Hag. Now, they were getting both old and fat. She laughed out loud despite herself, and they turned around to see her, at which time she decided to continue laughing.  
“Go away!” Flora growled at her. The pixies were no happier to see her than she was to see them. “Get out of here!”  
“That’s not very nice,” Maleficent observed.  
“You get out of here!” Merriweather snapped, shaking her big blue gown and swallowing a big brown blob, which made the dark fairy start laughing at her again. Twinkles and sparkles appeared behind the blue pixie, a result of her frustration, which made the dark fairy snicker anew.  
“Why?” she asked through her laughter. Merriweather was more sensitive than the others, because of her failed spell. What was even more entertaining, when the fat little blue pixie became irritated, angered, or especially enraged, she farted frosty blue sparkles.  
“You’re not wanted!” Merriweather exclaimed in frustration, knitting her brows, shaking her behind, and noisily farting more icy blue twinkles.  
“With that sort of an attitude, I think I shall stay, and count what remains of the truffles, which are not yours, now are they? Indeed, I believe you are pilfering through Queen Aurora’s valuables. That is where the most rare and costly spices and ingredients are kept under lock and key by the cooks.”  
“Don’t you dare!” all three pixies exclaimed together. They’d had well over seven Maleficent-free years of liberal snacking in the kitchens, and the last thing they wanted was her poking around now!  
“In that case, I think I shall,” the dark fairy smiled, and strode forward towards the wooden cabinet where the valuable ingredients were usually kept locked up. She was genuinely surprised when they dumped a bucket of old, curdled milk over her head. “Ugh!” she exclaimed, and looking back at the cackling little hags, said, “Form of a bird!”  
They shrieked, and were just a shade too late in countering her spell. Instead of completely turning into birds, they turned into birds with pixie’s heads, and that made the dark fairy laugh despite being drenched in sour milk. “You’re harpies!” she exclaimed in delight.  
“Let’s go tell Queen Aurora!” Fauna exclaimed, and they attempted to fly off.  
“Oh, no you don’t!” Maleficent exclaimed. Then, she shrank them down to the size of honeybees, and forced them into a jar, into which she then tossed a truffle. “There you go,” she laughed, “Now you can feast your filthy, greedy little selves to your hearts’ content without stealing from my wife.” Then she slammed the cabinet door closed.  
It was weeks before the cook thought to make a sauce that contained rare spices or truffles, and unlocked the cabinet again. He was utterly mystified by the glowing jar, and opened it up. Out flew the angry little pixie-creatures, shrieking horribly and shedding droppings as they flew. Being shut up in the cabinet hadn’t improved their tempers any, and feasting on truffle had resulted in three cases of tummy upsets. The cook shouted and tossed away the foul-smelling jar, wondering what evil had just been unleashed.  
“We’ll get her for this,” they vowed, and were very fortunate to find Phillip out in the gardens, picking some fruit and looking for something to practice his spells on. Removing Maleficent’s magic from the pixies took all afternoon, but he finally accomplished the task, feeling quite pleased with himself. He was visiting with news from White Castle, and would be staying for a couple of days at least.   
Merriweather suddenly got an idea. “We need to teach Maleficent a lesson,” she declared. “Something we should have done years ago.” She whispered her plan to her sisters, and they gasped in shock. “We have to do it,” she emphasized, “Otherwise she’s going to feel entitled to pull pranks like that on us whenever she feels like it.” They all considered this deeply, and knowing that their dear Queen Aurora would be busy talking with her old friend Prince Phillip, the Wizard’s Apprentice, until late in the night, decided to take their opportunity.   
Later that evening, after Maleficent put the children to bed with fairy stories and accompanying magical dream-draughts, she then retired to the suite she was sharing with Aurora. She was tired, and decided to do a little light reading and then go to sleep. While relaxing on the bed, she thought she heard a sound coming from the wardrobe. It rattled and bumped, and she sat up, wondering whatever that could be. She stared in amazement as the door opened by itself, and then screamed in terror when an enormous Merriweather, twice her normal human size, stepped out of the wardrobe, wearing nothing but a giant, horned, sky colored hat, blue leather strapping and a pair of tiny little periwinkle slippers on her diminutive feet, which seemed bizarrely out of proportion. Breasts that had once been small hung grotesquely, like rocks in socks. Indeed, the entire effect was that of a great blue cow standing on its hind legs and swaying its udders menacingly. Even more worryingly, Merriweather was carrying a whip in one hand, which she uncoiled, saying the words, “See me!”  
Unable for a few horrifying seconds to look away, the image was burned into the dark fairy’s mind, and then recovering her senses, she stood up and ran towards the door. As she fled, Flora entered, larger than life just as the blue pixie was, and she slipped her long pink cloak off, revealing massive dimensions of grotesque proportions, all perched atop tiny little feet, giving the impression that she might at any moment topple over. Reddish-pink skin, with pendulous breasts, enormous sagging belly, and the hugest rump imaginable, shaking as the angry pixie gripped a red paddle. “We should have done this years ago,” she announced, the giant pink daisies on her big red hat bouncing up and down. “You will be punished!”  
With a shriek of terror at the hideous sight, the dark fairy spun around and ran for the balcony, where Fauna was similarly lurking, dressed in nothing but a big green beribboned hat, and twinkle-toed slippers that sprinkled magical pixie dust. In her hands were a pair of leather handcuffs, set with iron studs. “These are for you,” she informed Maleficent. “We are going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget!”  
The dark fairy wasn’t about to endure any such thing, and transformed them all back into harpies. Their instruments and shoes fell to the floor, along with their massive hats, and shrieking, they flew out the balcony door. Maleficent shut it and tried to get the horrible sights out of her head. She breathed deeply, and tried to un-see the horrible, huge, naked ‘good fairies.’ There was nothing good about them, as far as she was concerned, and the image of naked Merriweather, looking for all the world like an insane giant blue cow standing up on its hind legs and coming after her, was burned indelibly into her consciousness. “See me,” the hideous apparition had said. Shaking her head, Maleficent tried not to.  
She sat down and tried to resume reading, but the old captain’s log wasn’t that interesting. She’d chosen it so she could research mermaids for Mallie, but most of the entries were long descriptions of weather and disagreeable sailing companions. It was a five-hundred page sleep spell, as far as she was concerned. Trying to focus, she wiped the image of the terrifying blue cow of punishment from her mind, and attempted to picture the ship in the book, sailing along smoothly over the water under a clear sky. Suddenly, Flora’s enormous rump breeched the waves, and then submerged again, as the dark fairy sat there in horror, comprehending that they had cast some sort of horrid geas upon her. The whale’s dappled behind broke the surface again, and then Flora’s cephalopodic head, enormous bonnet and all, emerged from the sea to say, “You will be punished!”  
“Aaaahhh!” Maleficent exclaimed, and shut the book. She took a deep breath and tried to get control of her mind, calming down a little, and focusing upon her own hands. Exhaling slowly, she saw quite clearly the enormous Fauna trying to put the leather handcuffs on her, saying, ‘These are for you. We’re going to teach you a lesson you’ll never forget!’  
Maleficent screamed and throwing her hands in the air, tossed the book away on accident. “No! No! Begone, foul dwimmerlings!” she commanded them. But her magic was ineffective, the creatures remained.  
“See me!” the giant image of Merriweather demanded, appearing before her. “See us!”  
“No!” she screamed, trying to ignore them, but they were too hideous to deny; she simply couldn’t look away. Then she tried again to maintain her composure, and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. “They are just shadows, feeding off of my fear…” she told herself, but she could hear and smell them as well as see, and they were coming closer, the odors of frosting and moldy tea rolling ahead of them. So instinctively she opened her eyes again, and saw Fauna, a naked visage of striated skin and millions of cookies, leaning forward again to attach the leather and iron cuffs. So close, so real, she wasn’t about to let them put those cuffs on her. When she swatted at the horrible figure, she felt that nasty, dry skin, and worse, distinctly experienced the sensation of her hand going from surface to bone with nothing in between but fat and gelatin where muscle should have been. The loathsome feeling made her shriek anew, and scramble away from the foul, smiling nightshade. The crack of a whip and the sharp swat of a paddle hitting her were real, as well.   
She screamed again and ran towards the door. The real pixies had been transformed into harpies and flown away. What were these horrible things? Reaching for the doorknob, she squeezed one of Flora’s long, dangling breasts, and drew back with a scream, the feeling of grotesque flesh still there on her hand. As she turned around, there was the most terrifying of the fairies, the bovine Merriweather, whose angry expression made the effect of a devil-cow. “You’ll regret the things you’ve done,” the giant blue cow threatened, standing upon what seemed like cloven hooves, her feet so tiny and legs so thin in comparison with the rest of her body, which was enormous and round, like a great fruit on spindly sticks, up and walking around. The devil-cow was wielding the whip, and the dark fairy screamed again.  
Downstairs in the dining hall, the pixies were entreating Queen Aurora and her guest Phillip the Wizard to remove yet another of Maleficent’s treacherous spells. “What’s that I’m hearing,” Aurora interrupted them. “Is someone screaming upstairs?”  
“There’s definitely someone screaming,” Phillip agreed and stood up.   
“Wait, wait!” the pixies entreated, “Turn us back into ourselves!”  
“Let’s see what the trouble is first,” Aurora said suspiciously, and stood up, setting her cup of wine and plans for the evening aside, Phillip following her, and the pixies turned harpies flying along behind them, begging for aid and pooping all the way. Phillip turned up his nose as they flew beside him; constant defecation was an unpleasant harpy attribute, as well as the shrieking and use of obscene language.  
Little Aura looked over at her sister, the quiet, green dark fairy, who was lying there with her golden yellow eyes partially open. Her horns were starting to grow, and she often stayed awake at night, to complain of headaches in the morning. “Do you hear screaming?”  
“I do,” she said softly, “It sounds like Mother.”  
“Let’s go see,” Aura suggested, and the little dark fairy leapt out of bed with her, and wrapped a long black and purple robe around herself. She loved purple, while her twin favored pink. Aura paused to drape a glittering rose and white cloak around and in between her wings, and looked for her matching slippers.  
“Hurry up, you’re slow!” her twin said, reaching the door immediately.  
“I can’t teleport, Maleficent,” Aura answered.  
“You don’t need fancy shoes!” the little dark fairy answered. “Just come as you are.”  
“I don’t want cold feet, and I have to look good!”  
Little Maleficent sighed and opened the door as she heard more screaming from the Queen’s bedroom, and saw Mummy Aurora and Phillip rushing up the stairs, three harpies behind them, flying around pooping everywhere and shrieking. One was red, one was blue, and a third was bright green. She knew well enough that those were the pixies who always angered Mother and caused trouble. Little Maleficent didn’t like them very much, and didn’t understand why anyone else did. They were annoying and arrogant, calling themselves ‘good fairies,’ which always carried the implication that she and her mother weren’t. She watched as Aurora opened the door and screamed herself, and then Phillip looked inside and screamed, too. It took a lot to make a wizard scream. Now little Maleficent was worried; maybe something was attacking Mother, like a terrible monster. Silently, she teleported and hung back behind the grown-ups, nearly invisible in the dark, while Aura was wasting time, searching for her white sparkle slippers. Phillip and Aurora ran into the Queen’s bedchamber, and the little dark fairy heard a horrible combination of shrieking, spell casting, and cursing. Noiselessly, she teleported to the doorway and looked inside. Mother was standing on top of a dresser, barefoot and dressed in her old, leafy green nightgown, wild-eyed and screaming, magical arrows flying from her fingertips and swinging at three hideous monsters with a broom she had transformed into a trident.  
“Stay away! Stay away!” she was screaming at the monsters, who looked like huge versions of the three ‘good fairies,’ but naked and leering, holding whips and paddles, and threatening to punish Mother for something. The magical arrows were going straight through the creatures, although they seemed very solid. Poor Phillip the Wizard was utterly terrified as well, and sweet Mummy Aurora, always so kind and cheerful, and nice to absolutely everyone, was cursing like a harpy. The three pixies, in the form of harpies themselves, were flying around in complete confusion and disarray, making a tremendous amount of noise and pooping everywhere.   
Aurora seized one and demanded, “What did you do?”  
“Just left her to play with some boggarts,” the green harpy squeaked.  
“Maleficent!” Aurora called, “They’re boggarts! Laugh at them!”  
Phillip heard her and shouted the same thing, “Laugh at them!” Then he began forcing some laughter himself, and the monsters turned around to glare at him.  
Realizing what the hideous apparitions were, the dark fairy forced herself to laugh, and as they dissipated into mist, floating away out the window, Phillip sighed and said, “Well, there went any last, lingering threads of my heterosexuality.” Aurora helped Maleficent down off the dresser, as the trident changed back into a broom, and Phillip picked up the paddle and whip.   
“Are you hurt?” Aurora asked Maleficent.  
“No, but I’ve never been so terrified in my life.”  
Aurora turned to address the pixies turned harpies. “That is it! There will be no more pixies here in this castle, ever! You are to remain outside, and are forbidden to ever cast another cantrip, spell, or enchantment on any member of my family ever again. Is that clear?”  
The harpies looked very sad and repentant, apologizing to Aurora, and reluctantly agreeing to her demands. In exchange, Aurora asked only that Maleficent refrain from killing, injuring, or transforming the pixies into anything else. “Especially harpies,” she added, looking around the room at the soiled rugs and quilts. Then, after extracting the promise from the dark fairy, Aurora looked at the pixies and said, “I have some fond memories of you from my childhood. But you do not come before my family. If there is any further fighting, you’re banished, and that’s the end of it.”  
Three very chastened pixies made their way outside to the gardens, and grumbled to themselves, while Aura finally found her special sparkling slippers and joined her twin in the doorway, which drew everyone’s attention to the fact that she had even been there.  
“How long have you children been standing there?” Aurora asked.  
“We just got here,” Aura answered. She often answered for the both of them.  
“You certainly didn’t miss anything, then,” Aurora replied, as the children ventured in, and Phillip made the pixie paddle and whip vanish, along with the shoes and giant hats. Then, while the family sat together, Aura noticed something on the floor; two little leather handcuffs with iron studs. She slipped them into the pocket of her pretty pink robe without anyone noticing, and later that night, when they had been put back to bed, tried to affix them to her sister, who whined and complained that she didn’t like them. Aura stared hard at Maleficent, and she looked away in submission. Usually just a look was enough to intimidate her, but occasionally a slap was necessary, or a threat to tell Mother.  
“I don’t like those or want them on me! Iron ruins my spells!” the green-skinned girl said.  
“That’s the point, silly!” she giggled. “These are going to be my new favorite toy,” Aura smiled to herself.


	44. The Plague of the Dark Elves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dwarves release a deadly virus into the subterranean city of the Dark Elves, their long time enemies. Unfortunately, it spreads to the surface world, becoming a terrible plague among all Elves and Fairies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Dark Elves in this story are somewhat like the Drow from Dungeons & Dragons, but are different in appearance. Instead of dark skin with white hair, they have very pale skin with dark hair. Their abilties are similar, as is their culture, and worship of Lolth. Not as many of them are evil, however, only about half. The city is in most regards like the D&D Drow city of Menzobarranzen.

Chapter 44  
The Plague of the Dark Elves

Far away from the merry keep of Good Queen Aurora and her fairy friends, the Dwarves of the Iron Mountains were having financial disagreements with the Dark Elves, who lived far beneath the earth’s surface in their gloomy fairyland worshipping their Spider Goddess. What the elves didn’t think they should have to pay for they felt ultimately justified in simply stealing; and then denying that they had done any such thing. The Dwarf King was enraged, and was contemplating another all-out war with the treacherous Dark Elves, when one of his highest ranking clerics, a worshipper of the great Dwarven God of Wealth, came up with a more subtle solution. He claimed he had created a sickness, to which dwarves would be immune, but that the elves would fall prey to in large numbers, especially the weaker ones. The Halls of the Mountain King rang with the sounds of debate, unheard by men or elves, as the cleric attempted to convince the king and the other officials of the wisdom of his plan. The other magicians and healers, who worshipped the Dwarven gods of history, honor, beautiful things, and stone, rejected the plan as evil, since it would strike most heavily among children and the elderly, who were mainly noncombatants. This was, they said, distinctly unheroic. Honor was to be won on the field of battle by defeating their foes, not by surreptitiously killing their enemies’ families. That, the king pointed out, was the sort of thing the Dark Elves were known for doing.  
The Deep Gnomes, relatives of the surface-dwelling Gnomes and Halflings, agreed, and were quite worried about themselves. Just because the dwarves were immune to the disease didn’t mean that they would be, and so many of them deserted the Iron Halls, despite repeated assurances that they wouldn’t be affected, at least not much. Quite soon after, the surface Halfling and Gnomish settlements became quite busy, as long forgotten relations among the Deep Gnomes suddenly reappeared telling tales of impending disaster. From Halfling communities, to the cities and towns of men, the rumors spread.   
So it was that one afternoon Queen Aurora received a visit from her friend Phillip the Wizard. He repeated what he had heard, and warned her in advance to be prepared. “If the Dwarves do this foolish, cowardly and evil deed, the Dark Elves, at least the poorer relations with nothing to lose, are going to flee for the surface, and bring this plague with them. No ordinary disease, it is a weapon of war, intended and designed to kill Elves, and by coincidence, fairies along with them. This will be different than anything that has happened before. Be ready for it.”  
Aurora smiled, and said, “I recall Snow White once telling me that wizards were grim company, and only appeared when they had some dismal news to relate.”  
“There is some truth to that,” Phillip agreed, and then allowed himself to be distracted by more pleasant stories and news. Aurora’s family was growing up, and while the surrounding lands were quite peaceful, the queen’s own household was frequently not. While the two butterfly princesses that Aurora had borne had grown into delightful young women with elegant antennae, prismatic sparkling wings and sunny dispositions like their mother’s, the twins were quite different. Phillip thought he would have been shocked to have found it any other way, but he wisely refrained from pointing out the obvious. Spring and Summer were gracious young ladies, and young Maleficent, without wings at all, had her mother’s horns and disposition. Of the four, it was Aura who most resembled Aurora, but with a quite different personality. Phillip did not like or trust her, and never forgave nor forgot her lies about being threatened by the elder wizard. It had all been a ruse concocted to rid herself of unwanted supervision, and he knew it, although Aurora would hear no evil concerning any of her children. He listened while Aurora updated him on the last several years of news that he had missed, and found that it had all been quite foreseeable. It was obvious to him, as the older girls were preparing to leave home, that Aura had already taken control of the household at the age of sixteen. Not yet in name, but in fact, and it caused considerable strain between her and the elder dark fairy, who greatly resented being manipulated, but any attempts on her part to thwart Aura led to recriminations that she was favoring her namesake. Mallie, the younger sorceress, also resented her sister ordering her about, and often seemed sulky about it. She had already run away from home several times, and looked to Phillip like she had at least one more tumultuous adventure still ahead of her. At fourteen she had taken off with a visiting baron’s son, although discovered shortly afterward in his bed and sent home. At sixteen, she had a brief affair with an older man, one of Aurora’s advisors, who then mysteriously vanished. The wizard took one look at the elder dark fairy and didn’t wonder long what had happened to the unfortunate advisor, whom he considered foolish indeed, the queen better off without his advice. But killing young Maleficent’s male admirers didn’t solve the basic problem. While shunned when young as a devil child, a witch at best, she was now shouldered with a different burden. Her reputation forever tarnished, people now viewed her as an evil-eyed prostitute, whom no one admitted associating with. Even low-born members of the nobility forbade their children from associating with the wicked-looking fairy girl. Yet, all manner of men flirted with the green-skinned princess after dark, hoping to be admitted into her boudoir unseen. That night at dinner as he enjoyed his meal, he observed their undiminished hopes, despite the young sorceress’ murderous mother, and shook his head. Some of the younger noblemen asked him what he thought of the most extraordinary situation. “The answer to your trouble is simple,” Phillip said plainly, “Leave the lovely young dark fairy alone, and you won’t have her mother trying to kill you.” However, they failed to heed his advice, and after ignoring her during dinner, attempted to charm the young sorceress later in the evening, after she had finished dancing while her sister Aura sang and played the harp. It was well known that the lovely Aura, too innocent and pure to ever touch, rarely even deigned to speak to them. When she did, they fell all over themselves with happiness at the very thought that she noticed them, rarely perceiving that her interest was solely in delegating some disagreeable task. Food and wine flowed freely, and so would the wizard’s advice, if anyone had asked him for it, which few people besides the queen ever did. Wondering if folk were truly as simple as they seemed, Phillip stayed several days, observing the goings-on at the castle. Then, shaking his head at the palace intrigue, he warned Aurora once again about the possibility of a devastating plague among elves and fairies, and then took his leave of their court. Queen Aurora stockpiled healing herbs, and wrote down her recipes and spells upon scrolls, so that others might use them, and they could be distributed if need be. After making what seemed like a vast number of them, she smiled in satisfaction and considered the preparations complete.  
Not long after the wizard’s visit, the young dark fairy again vanished, causing worry and upset among her family. Since she alone had the ability to teleport, they knew she could be anywhere, or reappear at any moment. After she had been gone for three days, however, they began to panic. Maleficent searched the fairy realm, wondering where she had gone, while Aurora had her servants check the places a young princess might try to hide with a paramour. Still more days went by, and while her parents and elder sisters worried that she was injured somewhere, her twin was outraged that she had left without telling her first.  
They would all have been stunned if they had known where she really went. Having inherited her mother’s tendency to privately indulge her unhappiness, known to others as sulking, she had slipped away into the forest and gone to a small lake, where she sat at the bottom in the darkness, feeling sad and lonely. It was a curious place to wish someone would comfort her, since the cold, dark lake bottom was desolate except for the occasional fish or curious duck. She sat there, relishing feeling miserable from the isolating chill all night long, until morning, when she observed a thrashing up above on the surface. Curious, she swam upward, and saw a small girl floating downward, seemingly having drowned. On a whim, she pushed the child upward, and breaking the surface, heard humans talking.  
“Mom… Mom…” a small boy was saying.  
“What is it?” a woman asked, who was setting out piles of clothing, presumably to wash.  
“Lily fell in the lake,” he said, in no particular hurry, as though this sort of thing was to be expected. Of course the clumsy and the crazy fall in lakes; happens all the time. The woman screamed and dropped what she was holding, running over to the water’s edge and looking around. She screamed again when she saw a strange, green, horned woman pushing the baby back at her. The grateful mother picked up the little girl, and turning her over, emptied her lungs of water while the little boys and the fairy watched. After several attempts, the child started breathing again, and the woman wept with relief.  
The older boy remarked, “Lily, you’re such an oaf even the shellycoats don’t want you!” This comment made the little girl cry, his brother laugh, and his mother quite angry. For her part, Mallie felt even uglier than before, to be mistaken for a bogie.  
“That’s not a shellycoat, Geordie,” the mother told him. “She’s a merrow or an undine.”  
“How do you know?” he asked curiously.  
“Because she’s a girl!” was the exasperated answer. After ordering the boys to go home, the woman turned to fairy and asked her what price was owed for saving her daughter. Thinking quickly, the sorceress answered, “A fireside and a warm meal.” She was cold and hungry, but didn’t want to go home quite yet. She was also flattered to have been mistaken for a beautiful female merrow.  
“Very well, come with me,” the woman, whose name was Daisy, said. The quiet young sorceress was almost overwhelmed by the woman’s questions and talkativeness, but accompanied her to their cottage. She hadn’t planned on staying, she had meant to go home, but between listening to the family during the day, and cuddling up at night with Daisy and her husband, she chose not to. The woodcutter and his wife were quite pleased to have the lady merrow, now warmed up and well fed, to play with for some real bed-fun. Weeks went by, when they heard a knock at the door. The lake fairy looked stricken when the woodcutter opened the door and one of Queen Aurora’s own guards introduced himself –and the Queen, who graciously invited herself in.  
“You are very lucky I found you before your mother did,” Aurora told her missing daughter. “It is time to go home now.”  
“How did you find me?” Mallie asked, while the woodcutter’s family stood there in stunned amazement, looking a little scared. Even Daisy was silent, although her mouth was open.   
“Bird-gossip is unreliable about many things,” the queen answered, “But on this subject, I suspected they might be right.” She thanked the family for their hospitality, and led the young dark fairy out the cottage door. “We have been very worried,” she said, “Your mother most of all. I understand that you want to be alone sometimes, or to go have adventures, but leaving without telling anyone is not the way to do it…”   
Mallie sighed, and returned to the castle to resume a life she really didn’t like very much, and to the reprimands of her parents. She wanted to tell Mummy Aurora lots of things, but wasn’t sure when or how. Planning the discussion and presentation of it took weeks, and they were days that her twin was using for punishment. Aura was furious about young Maleficent’s vanishing, and started to worry that her hold on her sister was wearing away. That relationship was one of the things the young sorceress was thinking about how to explain to her parents, when the first news of sickness began to arrive.  
The pixies were unreliable on all things, but in gossip they did seem to excel. Ailing Dark Elves were making their way to the surface in various areas, using the tunnels of the Deep Gnomes and fleeing for their lives from their homeland, which had by all reports become a plague-stricken ruin. The Gnomes and Halflings also started to become ill, but the adults recovered, the only deaths being among infants and the elderly, while some of the surviving children were weak, crippled, or blind. Deaths among the Dark Elves themselves were tremendous; few who became sick ever recovered, almost all of them died. Aurora was considering this news when the first flu-like symptoms began to appear in the kingdom, spread to human men from nearby Halfling villages. Quickly, people began asking Queen Aurora, who was known for her magical healing abilities, to help them.  
The disease began with a headache and sneezing; and after a few days turned into a high fever, bone chills, stomach upset, and exhaustion. Humans would be sick for several days, and then start to recover, only a few of the very young or very old dying, just as was occurring among the Halflings. For Elves and fairies, however, the disease was devastating. Instead of rising from their beds after several days of feeling miserable, their fevers spiked, with a tell-tale crimson burning on their cheeks, after which they lost consciousness and died soon after. Aurora found herself completely overwhelmed. She had taken Phillip’s advice, and prepared herbs and spells ahead of time, but she soon found that she was woefully underprepared for the vastness of the problem. The scrolls and potions were quickly used. Nor was there any calling for help; messengers reported that the disease had already run its course through much of the surrounding lands, and that her kingdom was one of the last to be affected, due to it’s remoteness. She did however, start to notice something. People were fine until they were sneezed on, and then in turn sneezed on others. So Aurora ordered people to sneeze into their elbows, not at one another or on their own hands, as some humans, particularly little ones, had a tendency to do. She noted with distaste that her pixie aunties also sneezed on one another, the pushing, hair-pulling, and arguing ensuring that the evil magic had spread thoroughly from the snuffly one to the others. Her palace guards all wearing scarves over their noses and mouths, she then sent Maleficent and the children into isolation.   
“I will be fine,” she assured them, “And I have to help others. But you five are in real danger. Go up into the high towers and don’t come down until I send for you. Whatever you do, don’t let those pixies in with you, either!”  
“On that count, you need not worry,” Maleficent assured her, as she locked herself and the children in one of the uppermost towers.   
The Dark Elves, always somewhat feared, were now shunned and reviled wherever they went, as plague-bringers and heralds of woe. Tales told of them as weak fighters but powerful magic-users, and so dangerous even if encountered alone, well away from their fortress-like underground city. Her pixie aunties now seriously ill, Aurora knew she had to find out as much as she could about the disease, and so when she heard of a dark elf family living in a wagon out in the forest, she went herself to talk to them. She learned much by visiting with the family, who didn’t seem very threatening to her, although perhaps they were merely awed by the idea that Queen Aurora herself had come to speak to a group of homeless Dark Elves. They appeared like other elves, except that their skin was so pale as to seem bluish, and their eyes were not vibrant, but rather dullish in the daylight, only shining by night or twilight. Their hair was a deep jet, the blue highlights emphasized with crimson semiprecious stones woven into their braids and ornaments. Sunlight burnt their skin, so they hid in their wagon or under a heavy canopy of tree branches until nightfall. The tale they told her was worse than she had imagined from Phillip’s warning. It seemed that an evil Dwarven cleric had sent into the city of the Dark Elves cursed Gnomish slaves, who were to have served as general maintenance staff in the royal houses. Sneezing and moaning their way from household to household, the elves all began to sicken and die in large numbers. The miserable Gnomes were sacrificed to their Great Spider Goddess, but while the priestesses themselves were spared, the disease was rampant through the streets of the city, spread by slaves and laborers from house to house. Orcs, who became just as sick as the Elves, retreated to their vast underground lairs, taking the illness with them. Only Dwarves were immune, and were stealing treasures from the Elven city as fast as the owners died. The magical gems and vast golden stores of the Dark Elves had been a legend to excite the Dwarves and even several dragons for ages, but they had never been successfully conquered, due to their absolutely mastery of dark sorcery. Now, the Dwarves were in ecstasy, plundering the great wealth of the dying Dark Elves. While some nobles and royalty stayed to fight, or holed up in their magical fortresses which the Dwarves had no ability to penetrate, the lower classes had no choice but to flee up the mines, passageways, and Gnomish byways to the surface world. Sadly, like the Orcs, the Dark Elves and fleeing Gnomish workmen took the disease with them. It was a dirty victory for the Dwarves, Aurora realized, as they conquered the Dark Elves, and the Orcs died out by the tens of thousands as a happy coincidence. Unnoticed by the subterranean Dwarves, surface Elves and fairies were also dying in droves, while humans and Halflings were all sickened. It was a great plague, and no one was prepared for it. Aurora spent all of her time aiding the sick and trying to save her pixie aunties. No one, it seemed, was immune, and even Aurora herself fell ill while taking care of her aunts. While she lay in bed, feeling like she was alternately freezing and then on fire, with her head stuffed up and ready to burst, she remembered what the Dark Elf family had said about the priestesses being spared. Why? She thought about it a great deal, and finally making herself a wicked concoction of Old Man’s Beard and Hag’s Hair, she felt well enough to get out of bed and speak to the birds. So she sent them to find and ask all surviving fairies and dark elves they could find what they knew. When the birds returned, she had her answer. Water fairies were less affected than terrestrial ones, and the dark elven priestesses were constant ritual bathers, in hot water and herbs as well as blood. Hoping blood had nothing to do with it, Aurora concentrated on the bathing and washing. Using the same combination of herbs that had helped her, she set about saving others. She noticed immediate improvement among her human and Halfling subjects, just by having them all stop sneezing on one another and wash their grubby hands. The Wild Elves, who lived near the barbarian lands to the north, upon hearing of the plague, fled further out onto the icy steppes, where they remained in isolation and according to the bird messengers, did not become ill at all. Prevention, the queen realized, was worth a pound of cure. Aurora’s own family, sequestered high up in the tower, also were not ill- yet. With unceasing diligence and magical aid, she saved the lives of her beloved pixie aunties, and believing the danger to be past, ventured up into the tower to visit with her wife and children, who had become rather paranoid and irritable at being locked up. Inspired by the pixies’ miraculous recoveries, they harangued Aurora until, against her better judgment, she relented and let them once again roam freely.   
Soon enough, Aurora noticed that many survivors of the plague were not unscathed. Some remained sickly, others seemed addled or simple because of the fever. She wondered, if it were possible, that her aunties had become even duller of wit due to their prolonged sickness. They seemed to have great difficulty following even basic instructions, including to stay away from Maleficent and the children. While they happily stayed a great distance from the elder dark fairy, they could not refrain from visiting with their cherished butterfly-fairy grandnieces, who then shortly thereafter fell ill. More than half human, they did not become nearly as sick as the pixies had been, but they were very miserable, and their sisters quickly succumbed as well. Aurora then tried to send Maleficent back into the tower, where she flatly refused to go. She insisted upon helping Aurora care for their children, and then became sick herself, at first denying it, and then curling up quietly in their bed and pretending it wasn’t so.  
Aurora was beside herself with worry. “Why?” she asked her fairy love, “Why? Why didn’t you simply listen to me and go up into the tower?”  
“They need me…”  
“No, they will recover. Now you’re much sicker than they ever will be!”  
“Is complaining part of your healing plan?” the fairy asked softly.  
“No, but it was integral to my prevention plans!”   
“Need a new plan,” the fairy answered, sighing audibly. She alternately froze and felt like she was burning up, while the tell-tale red marks had formed on her cheeks. The sneezing and labored breathing had begun as well, just as with the others. While Aurora was pleased to see that Aura and the two butterfly princesses were starting to feel better, sitting up in bed and eating again, both dark fairies remained extremely sick. They do have the blood of the fey much stronger within them, Aurora thought, and finally decided to save their lives the same way she had the pixies; although they weren’t going to like it very much. She decided to work on the young dark fairy first, primarily because she wouldn’t suspect what was about to happen to her. Concocting the same potent brew of Old Man’s Beard and Hag’s Hair that she had used to heal herself and then save her pixie aunties, she went into Mallie’s room, where she lay curled up in her bed, the bright crimson marks on her cheeks and shivering despite the many blankets and a high fever. The young sorceress didn’t resist at all as she gently sat her upright, tilted her head back, and then carefully poured some of the potion up her nostrils. At first there was no reaction, only sputtering, and then the dark fairy’s yellow dragon-like eyes flew open, and she shrieked horribly, flailing away at Aurora and anything else she could reach.  
“I’m sorry, dear,” Aurora said, “But it’s the only thing I know of to save you. I know it burns…” she reassured her as sweetly as possible, feeling quite a bit like a liar as she did so. Burning didn’t come close to describing the fiery, raging agony the homemade potion caused as it burned the sickness out. More like having the flaming sword of an avenging angel shoved up your nose, Aurora thought sadly. But it worked. After several minutes of anguished flailing, the young sorceress lay back down, breathing much easier. “Sorry, Mallie, dear,” Aurora said again. “But you should feel much better soon, that burns all the sickness out…”  
“With pure fire,” the green-skilled girl grumbled, looking resentfully at Mummy, and then curling back up and going to sleep again.  
“Poor dear,” Aurora sympathized, “And poor me. Now I have to go do the same thing to your mother.” She thought she detected a slight smile on Mallie’s face as she spoke, and knew then that all of the children would live. Then, gathering up all of her courage, she took the rest of the potion and went up into the suite of rooms she and her fairy love had shared for years. Maleficent was resting in a miserable half-awake state, unable to truly sleep due to pain and a high fever. The crimson spots on her cheeks were blazing red, and when Aurora touched her, she felt the spiked fever and simultaneously clammy skin. Feeling more than a little dishonest, she embraced Maleficent, and noticed very little response. Maybe it is better I don’t warn or awaken her, Aurora thought, and taking the little potion bottle, poured the liquid up the fairy’s nose just as she had the younger dark fey. There was no reaction at first, and then the fairy’s eyes flew open, her body stiffened, and she shrieked like a raging demoness, thrusting Aurora and the potion bottle away from her, as the queen and surrounding bedding went flying. Maleficent screamed, first clutching at her nose, and then shrieking again, shooting green magical flames and sparks everywhere. She flailed uselessly, as the liquid burned up her sinuses and then felt like the fire slid down her throat, scorching everything in its path. Finally, the agony began to subside, and she noticed that she could breathe again.   
“I’m sorry,” Aurora said, getting up off the floor, “But that’s the only cure…”  
“Is that what you did to the pixies?” the dark fairy demanded.  
“Yes, of course…”  
“I would have wanted to watch,” Maleficent answered, and then, able to breathe normally again, felt very tired, and like she wanted to sleep. Aurora laughed as the dark fairy curled up again, but this time more comfortably, the fever and bright red spots on her cheeks starting to subside. Both dark fairies slept soundly for most of the next few days, while Aurora was relieved that the obnoxious potion had in fact worked. Watching her other three daughters, however, and the even more addled than formerly pixies, she hoped that they would recover fully. Aura seemed to be herself again, and was up and walking around first. Both Spring and Summer were then soon well enough to go about their daily business, but they frequently complained of tiredness. Maybe that will pass, Aurora thought. Maleficent was the next one up and out of bed, claiming that she was fine, and not hearing any advice to the contrary. Indeed, Aurora soon noticed, she didn’t hear very well at all. She was oblivious to words spoken behind her back, or softly, and unless someone had her full attention, she seldom understood what they were saying. Mallie lingered in bed longest, and would never have risen, if Aurora hadn’t forced her to. She was constantly exhausted, and needed to rest. Using magic, she made herself a wizard’s staff to lean on, so that she wouldn’t have to sit down so frequently, and could walk the length of a hallway. She also threw up a lot, and Aurora began to suspect something more than the plague was responsible. Finding the young sorceress lingering in bed one morning, vomiting into a bowl, she pulled the girl’s long, raven hair back out of the way, and decided to ask. “Is there something you would like to tell me?”  
The girl hesitated, and then said, “I think I’m going to have a baby.”  
“Do you want to have a baby?”  
“I think so.”  
Aurora thought about the situation, as she rubbed Mallie’s back until she fell asleep. Later that day, she told Maleficent, who was horrified. “Aurora! She’s nowhere near strong enough for something like that! She can barely walk around!”  
“She’s still weak from the illness, but there’s time to recover.”  
“What if the child is not quite right from the sickness?”  
Aurora paused, she hadn’t thought about that. The plague had killed a disproportionate number of babies and children, and most of the pregnant women had miscarried, or their infants stillborn. “I suppose we will just have to wait and see.” The fairy didn’t like that answer or the idea behind it, and the queen could certainly tell from the expression on her face.   
“She’s too young, Aurora, and not strong enough. Then, if she gives birth to a dead or deformed child, she will be even more miserable.” She looked sternly at her lover, as though she had thought this terrible plan up, and added, “Besides, where did this baby come from? Magic, or the peasant cottage you found her in?”  
“I would be surprised if her magic was strong enough to have done such a thing on her own,” Aurora thought aloud. “Why are you looking at me like that?”  
“Did you encourage her in these delusions?”  
“Of course not! I just found out about it this morning!”   
“I think you should make a potion, and encourage her to drink it.”  
“I think it should be her decision.”  
“She makes terrible choices!”  
“Maleficent, don’t you harangue that poor girl, or try to trick her into drinking a potion!”  
“Don’t you encourage her to go through with this!”  
As the argument gained volume, people fled. First the butterfly princesses and the royal advisers, and then finally the household staff. Finally, they agreed to disagree, for harmony’s sake, since Mallie was already pregnant, and they did concur that it would be wrong to force decisions upon her. Yet, it was all for nothing, as she lost the baby several months later, and was then even more morose than ever. Easily exhausted, dancing became a thing of her past, while she sat quietly and listened to Aura’s beautiful singing, and watched others dance and enjoy themselves. Always prone to silence and brooding, she fingered her magical staff and harbored dark thoughts few others suspected were as bleak as they were. Attempts by her sisters and mothers to make her feel better were ineffective, or worse, counterproductive.   
Damaging as the plague had been on their family, the devastation to the communities of elves and fairies was tremendous. Very few remained, and while the fairies hid in their forests and grottos, the Wood Elf societies were destroyed. Ever suspicious, the Wild Elves avoided all outsiders, and adopted few of the abandoned wood elves into their tribes. Some lonely elves joined human communities rather than be isolated, and others began to leave the land altogether, building ships within which to sail away to the magical elf lands of old. The Dwarves, for their part, claimed innocence, and when their guilt was firmly established, the king “confessed,” to using the terrible disease to kill the Orcs, thus freeing the land of their raiding and destruction, and issued a hollow apology to Men and Elves. Nobody was impressed, and the Dwarves became isolated in their mountains, afraid to emerge onto the surface world, lest angry human men who had lost elven wives and halfelven children in the plague hunt them down. There were several such gangs who roamed the area around the Iron Mountains, vowing revenge.  
Months, then years passed, and gradually the devastation of the plague was healed or forgotten, as the seasons rolled along, and the holidays came and went. Aurora prepared for her coronation anniversary, amazed that she had reigned as long as she had, and how very different she was from the naïve sixteen-year old who had suddenly inherited the crown so many years ago. Invitations went out, and her servants counted the enthusiastic responses, preparing a grand feast and celebration. Still, Aurora noticed, their dark fairy daughter was silent and sad, seldom speaking. Still weak and sickly, she walked with the aid of her magical staff, or teleported where she wanted to go. Aurora had tried every healing spell she could think of, and was at a loss for what else she might do. Phillip arrived first, unexpectedly and mysteriously, as only wizards can, and promised some fine magical entertainments for the grand event. Within the week, guests began to arrive, and the castle was resplendent with decorations.  
On the night of the festivities, it seemed most of the surrounding kingdoms and countryside had gathered around the castle for the great celebration. They were not disappointed, and the magical displays in the night sky of prismatic lights became a legend. Aura sang as part of the performance, and an orchestra from White Castle played with her. Maleficent was staring up at the sky, enjoying Phillip’s magical display, and thinking how peculiar it all was that things had turned out the way they had, when Aurora kept elbowing her.   
“What?” she asked.  
“You certainly can’t hear me,” Aurora laughed, “Look over there.” She elbowed the fairy again, and pointed away towards the dancers and general revelers. Sitting beside the young sorceress was a niece of Phillip’s, the talkative Ezelle, who had arrived with the orchestra. She was laughing and entertaining the silent dark fairy, who was, amazingly enough, smiling. To their surprise, the two spent the evening together, and the visiting princess even coaxed the fairy into a slow dance with her.   
Aurora smiled happily, and saw the beginnings of friendship, and maybe more. She elbowed Maleficent again, and once she had the fairy’s attention, she said, “They remind me of us.”  
“Perhaps,” the winged fairy mused, watching. The visiting young princess did indeed remind her of Aurora when she was young; beautiful and relentlessly cheerful, especially in the face of a sullen dark fairy brooding about her life. She watched the princess admire the fairy’s trailing dark tresses, running her hands through the thick, raven hair, and touched her horns in curiosity. Oh, my, Maleficent smiled to herself, she’s even letting that girl touch her. “I am at least pleased to see her up and moving around, let alone happy about something.”  
“I think Snow White might have been onto something about love at first sight,” Aurora pondered. “It would not surprise me at all if one of her granddaughters thought the same.”  
“And if not,” Maleficent said, “At least she will have made a desperately needed friend.” Then, looking over at Aura, still deeply absorbed in her music, but likely to look around for her sister between songs if not distracted, took Aurora’s hand and said, “We should dance.” Aurora agreed, which immediately drew all eyes on them, so that few were watching anything else besides the light show in the sky or the queen herself. Especially, she thought, Aura, whom she knew would not be pleased to see her twin flirting with a stranger. Aura was young Maleficent’s only friend, and the singing angel did everything she could to keep it that way. Everyone else complimented Aura’s devotion and kindness, being so nice to her ugly, depressed twin sister, but their mother knew the truth. She knew manipulation and control when she saw it, and was less than pleased with Aura’s constant isolationist machinations. It frustrated her that Aurora was completely blind to the dynamic, and refused to even consider that Aura’s actions were anything other than sweet, generous, and purely benevolent. Looking over her shoulder, she was pleased to see the young dark fairy enjoying her evening, unsupervised by her twin, who was basking in the collective adoration of several kingdoms.   
So flattered and joyful was Aura, hailed and idolized, that it was days before she even thought to ask Mummy about the whereabouts of her usually silent sister. Out of earshot of Maleficent, which wasn’t difficult to do anymore, they giggled conspiratorially, and Aurora excitedly told her the news; that her twin had finally found a friend- and maybe more. Aura looked surprised, but then agreed that it was a wondrous turn of events indeed. When the visiting princess Ezelle was discovered early one morning lying dead upon the flagstones under the young dark fairy’s window, everyone was shocked and horrified, but no one suspected Aura. All suspicion fell immediately upon the green-skinned, evil-eyed sorceress, who clearly must have thrown her new friend to her death in a fit of rage or jealousy. Aurora apologized profusely to Phillip and the girl’s parents, who in their shock and grief didn’t want to hear it. No one believed the cheerful, lovely princess had killed herself; so clearly, Aurora said, she must have slipped. The festivities suddenly over, all eyes were cast askance at the young dark fairy, who quietly maintained her innocence, claiming it was all a terrible mistake, and that Ezelle must have fallen while Maleficent herself was still asleep. Aurora truly believed that it must have been a dreadful accident; the princess had been reaching for one of the heavenly scented roses that grew up alongside the castle walls, and slipped and fell. The remains of a ruby-red and ivory bouquet had been found with her, and it was the only thing that made sense, she maintained.   
“Can you not see the truth?” Maleficent said to her one evening, alone in their chamber after the crowds had gone away.   
“I don’t think Mallie killed her new friend on purpose,” Aurora defended, “Do you?”  
“Of course not, but I know who did. Aura dropped her from the air. She lured her out onto the balcony, early in the morning with no one else watching, picked her up and then dropped her. Then she threw the flowers down as a way to disguise what happened. Mallie knows it, but won’t dare to tell the truth.”  
“Maleficent! You are accusing one of the children of murder!”  
“She’s tasted blood now, Aurora, and she liked it.”  
“Maleficent! What a horrible, awful thing to say!”  
“It is the truth, and I can prove it. Come with me, and I will make Mallie show you what happened in the crystal on her staff…”  
“Absolutely not! What are you trying to do?”  
“I only wish for you to see the truth…”  
“This conversation is over, and I’m shocked and horrified that you would even think such things, let alone try to persuade others of them! Princess Ezelle’s death was terrible, tragic accident! She slipped after reaching too far to pick one of the roses, and fell.” She raised her hand as her lover started to argue again, “No! I will not hear any more of your wild accusations! Shame on you, for even thinking such things about one of our own children!”   
Maleficent sighed and did not bring up the subject again. Aurora refused to hear anything more about it, and firmly maintained both children’s innocence. Other people however, were not so kind, and the young sorceress’ bad reputation grew even worse. She was actively shunned, and both dark fairies were regarded with suspicion. They were both killers, and now everyone knew it. The younger if anything, likely to grow into a worse monster than her mother; she was clearly a devil who should have been killed at birth, just had been suggested at the time. But, good Queen Aurora had allowed no such thing then, and would not permit it now. They were biding their time, Maleficent knew quite well. They didn’t dare to harm the dark fairies while the Queen was alive, but after her death, they would be destroyed, if anyone could catch them.


	45. The Maiden of Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their children grown up, an elderly Queen Aurora passes away. Young Maleficent marries a devil for power and gold, planning to become the Mistress of All Evil. Her mother begs her not to go, and things do not go according to the young sorceress' plans and the promises of her evil twin sister, the lovely Aura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Aurora dies in this chapter. She is very old, and a grieving Maleficent outlives her. Young Maleficent returns from her disastrous marriage to the Prince of Hell with PTSD, and becomes the unstable, unpredictable personality type from the original Sleeping Beauty.

Chapter 45  
The Maiden of Pain

Many years had passed since they had first embraced, said their vows, and had unexpected adventures together. Now, the children were grown and leading their own lives. Maleficent held Aurora’s hand. Humans didn’t live as long as fey creatures, and despite all the healing and blessings, beautiful Aurora’s golden hair had finally turned completely silver, and her mind sometimes flew away. The fairy had a lush, glittering silver streak in her own dark chestnut hair, but age had yet to find her the way it had come to her lover. Aurora’s blessing of being beloved by all had long since permeated her realm, and the Queen’s subjects were nearly self-governing, all hoping that their dear Queen would live as long as possible. Aurora and Maleficent spent most of their time in the Moors, where Aurora had first been enamored with the fairy realms. She could still be enchanted by childlike pleasures, like glittering flowers, dancing ashrays, laughing simpletons like the mud dwellers, flying bits of light, and other tiny delights. Indeed, there were some times when Aurora was entertained for hours with only simple smoke. Maleficent let her have those moments, knowing that all too soon, her beloved would be joining those already in the Halls of Mandos. Nor did she bring up unpleasant things or memories. Aurora loved memories, she liked to smell the flowers, and it was as if each scent drew up a different time. She would wander the meadows and forests, enjoying the fragrance of each blossom, and remember something different. A sunrise evoked her memories of the birth of their second child, the scent of roses made her ramble on about how moved she was by the first time she had passed through the gates of the White Castle and she had caught a whiff of the powerfully sweet and fragrant burgundy and pearlescent ivory roses growing on the massive bushes girding the gates. Daisies brought her back to carefree childhood moments, and the scent of hyacinths made her recall both countless spring mornings and special moments they had shared together, the air scented with blossoms. Occasionally, Aurora would recall her Awakening, and laugh. Maleficent would laugh along. The memory was painful still, after all these years. She didn’t think that her lover had ever truly appreciated the malevolent intents that had gone behind her spells. Worse, Aurora would then recall her Awakening of Maleficent from Clecie’s poisoned apple spell, and the fairy’s reaction. Maleficent was still mortifyingly embarrassed, her lover’s laughter no salve for that sort of shame. But the older Aurora became, the more fearless she was about laughing at everything. In her more crone-like moments, she reminded the fairy of the old witch they had served so many years ago. The smells of burning food, bones, dirt, and the occasional cackle would take them back to the strange and magical lessons they had endured at the time but learned so much from later on. Smoky grease and burning leaves, especially, tended to take Aurora back to that time in their lives. If she didn’t think too hard, Maleficent could almost become nostalgic about it. Equally fearless in age, Aurora had no qualms about enjoying the charms of her fairy love, occasionally attempting to taste her at inappropriate moments. Such overtures made the fairy blush, and tell her aging spouse that they must wait, and then the old queen would laugh, making Maleficent wonder if she sometimes knew exactly what she was doing, and wanted to see just how much she could get away with. “It’s a good thing you started out the older woman,” Aurora often laughed.  
Alone, when Aurora was asleep, and no one else was around, she wondered deeper things. She had very few regrets, but those few that she yet held were bitter indeed. Now, having lived so long after Stephan’s death, she had finally forgiven him, especially after his daughter had healed her heart and brought her so much joy. The few regrets she still had were befriending the she-devil, and agreeing to Aurora’s sweet, blueberry-eyed notions of an age of peace. She should have thought ahead and asked for Aurora’s lifespan to match that of the fey, or insisted upon her own desire, which was to have immunity from curses or to have her wings healed. However, from the perspective of time, she had gotten Clecie’s wings, which were so very nice. She could pet her own feathers, and fancy that she was talking to her long dead mother. So, she thought, she should have sought the shield from curses. It would have saved her so much trouble! Instead, she had agreed to Aurora’s high minded visions, and thrown her small wish in with her true love’s and hoped for the best. Oh, the ogre’s meatball sandwich had tasted sweeter in hindsight!  
Her children, especially Aura, had agendas of their own. Spring and Summer were perfectly delightful princesses, much as Aurora had been, but with beautiful, sparkling butterfly-like wings that left no doubt as to their true ancestry. Instead of horns, they had sensitive little antennae to sense the ethereal with. They were kind, good-hearted and cheerful, having Aurora’s personality as well, along with a strong streak of practicality.  
But the two Maleficent had borne had different temperaments entirely. Although the young dark fairy had grown up quiet and reclusive, prone to loneliness and depression, still needing her staff to lean on because she had never quite recovered from the plague unleashed by the Dwarves, it was Aura who worried her the most. Aura had studied her elder sisters’ behavior long enough to imitate it flawlessly, leading everyone to believe that she was a truly angelic creature of goodness. Taking Good Queen Aurora’s techniques of compromise and charm, she turned them into guilt and guile to control and rule, eventually titling herself the Queen of Peace.  
The Queen of Peace, known to only a few as the Maiden of Pain, had brought peace and tranquility to the land, and the narcotic of sweet despair. So beautiful that every living thing wept at her feet, Aura brought kingdom after kingdom to its grateful knees. To hear her voice was to swoon in delight, to look into her eyes was an ironclad declaration of fealty. Everyone worshipped her. The kingdoms of Men lived in friendship, and the roads were safe to travel. The Orcs were no more, having almost all died out many years earlier in a great plague. Trolls, ogres, goblins and creatures of the dark retreated to the high hills and were seldom seen. The Dwarves delved deeper into their mountains and mines, seeking riches, ignoring the surface world. The remaining tribes of Elves were departing, boarding white ships that disappeared into the mists, never to be seen again, bound for another realm far across the sea, the route so treacherous that only the most experienced of sailors would attempt the journey. It would seem to be a glorious time, were it not for the undercurrents that lay beneath it. For in this peace, the World of Men and their cruel overlord of a Father God expanded at a truly stunning rate, and the Queen of Peace was their goddess, their savior, their living representation of heaven on earth. The Great Father and his magical bride, the Queen of Peace, promised their followers safety and certainty, as well as a heavenly hereafter. They drove all other gods away, and punished their worshippers who refused to convert with death. Absolute devotion was required, to their God and to the angel who spread his worship and bore his words. The gods of the Elves and Dwarves followed where their people went, and didn’t bother with humankind. The always little known and reclusive gods of the gnomes and halflings faded along with their people, in hobbit holes and grottoes increasingly hidden from prying eyes. Forest and sea gods of old hid or fled, their power dwindling from a lack of worshippers. For that was the agenda of the new Father God, to drive all the other gods and goddesses away, securing the ever-expanding human world for his own, and thus become the most powerful.  
The once vibrant and populous fairy realms became more difficult for humans to find; hidden in walls of fog or thorns, the remaining denizens quiet and seldom seen. Wars were less likely when the rivers widened, the forests became denser and more impenetrable, and the way more deadly. For what mattered the loss of a few starry eyed young humans who sought the fairy realm? The great juggernaut of time ground on, and it was in the process of wiping them out. Without war, without protest, it seemed there weren’t even any choices; anyone who didn’t worship the Queen of Peace and her husband died or vanished. But everyone knew that their Queen was protecting them from an even more frightening threat than war with dwarves or goblins; demons and devils. She was the angel that would save them all.  
Maleficent buried Aurora one starlit summer night. In the Moors, she laid her lover to final rest, and wept. For the most part, she grieved alone, as the world had moved on without them. Heirs had been designated, and both kingdoms that Beloved Queen Aurora had ruled over were nearly self-governing, not that there were many fey creatures left to argue. Spring and Summer had both married handsome Elves, and departed with their husbands for the Undying Lands across the sea. Aura crowned herself Queen, and immediately handed all daily duties to ministers. No one even suggested that the young dark fairy rule. Indeed, without Aurora at their side, both dark fairies knew exactly how unwelcome they were in the human world. Despite the great state funeral held at the palace, when the actual time came to lay Beloved Queen Aurora’s body in the earth, there were few in attendance. Their oldest two children, Spring and Summer, briefly returned from their Elf Havens to see Aurora’s final resting place and be of solace. Young Maleficent, now taller than her mother, even excluding her black horns, and thin as a willow tree, stood there silently at odd moments, remembering but seldom speaking. Phillip, now a bearded and cloaked old wizard himself, came to join her, and related that his teacher, old Rudyard, had gone to live with the Elves, and had not been heard from in many years. In the years after Aurora died, newcomers vied for the throne, battles threatening to erupt, until the Queen of Peace herself again appeared, and after a series of mock battles and contests, appointed a worthy successor to rule in her own stead. No one dared to challenge her, lest he meet with an untimely death.  
Thus was her decree, and so it was, year after year, until the holy ordainment became more myth than memory. Most of the population even had the peculiar inability to distinguish between the original Good Queen Aurora and Aura, the Queen of Peace. To all but a few, they became one and the same. Strange but handsome young humans lived in Stephan’s old castle, the only proof of the fairies still reputed to be living next door behind a thick veil of fog that never lifted were the three elderly pixies, a remnant of the court of the Good Queen Aurora. But she had become a broken memory, a piecemealed together legend told mostly on special occasions. The Queen of Peace reigned supreme, beloved by all who worshipped her and for whom there was to look forward to, only a darkened age of man. Peace had come at a dreadful price, so the elder dark fairy thought, or perhaps she had lived too long. Her thoughts were wild, and didn’t bend well to the Queen of Peace’s demands.  
“She had a wonderful life,” Aura said, interrupting Maleficent one afternoon, as she sat beneath the shade of the tree that grew over Aurora’s grave. “She had everything she ever wanted. Why do you still grieve?”  
“She healed my heart, and gave me hope, and love. Then my children broke my heart anew, and from that, there has been no recovery.”  
“Not that again!”  
“Why do you think that it will ever change?”  
“Because you could live another several hundred years, if you weren’t determined to die under a tree! Get up and do something!”  
“I know what you would have me do. Be your shadow, one of your devils, as your poor sister does. I will not. Besides, does anyone remember any gods but you?”  
“Why not? I fulfilled Mummy’s wish of peace across the land. Everything is quiet and beautiful, because I made it that way! Everyone loves and worships me!”  
“Yes,” she answered, “They do. They cannot do otherwise.”  
“Except you. From the very beginning, you liked Mallie best.”  
“Before all the others, I did love you, and despair. I forbade those foolish pixies to come near either of my children, but they did it anyway. They gave you the same gifts they gave Aurora, only instead of a happy heart, you have none. Nor do you have a conscience. You have never felt a moment of doubt or wince of regret as you have no notion of wrongdoing.”  
“Despair! Are you ever not gloomy? A good mother would help her children bring peace to the world. Do you? Oh, no, you would much rather sit under a tree and criticize.”  
But the fairy did not comply. She watched, and although she voiced her displeasure at the machinations of Queen Aura, the Maiden of Pain in the way she kept her subjects in thrall to her, nothing made her weep as much as the arranged marriage between her sweet little green baby, grown into an impressive dark fairy, graceful and tall, and Adrastia’s wealthy but off-putting son. So Aura’s deals had dipped down into the Abyss, she thought. The Queen of Peace had become friends with the red haired she-devil, and now drew her power from the depths of hell. She hadn’t saved the world from demons and devils, if anything she had brought forth more of them from the Outer Planes, to terrorize the world of humans under the cover of nightfall. Worse, she had sold everything for power, including her own twin sister. Maleficent agreed to attend the wedding, only because those big golden eyes that could not shed tears begged her to.  
“You do not need to follow her orders,” Maleficent said to her dark fairy daughter. “You do not need to marry that ugly, less than charming devil if you do not want to.”  
“It’s too late for that,” the green skinned sorceress answered softly, setting aside her staff and sighing. She wanted her new husband to see her first without it, and so she would not have it with her at the ceremony, even though it would make her incredibly weary to have nothing to lean on. “There is much that you do not know, Mother.”  
“It is not too late, Mallie,” she answered, tying on a beautiful, dark jeweled sash to hang from golden rings on her daughter’s black horns and form a veil over her eyes, matching bejeweled cuffs were on her neck, wrists, and ankles. Only her angular jaw and beautiful ruby lips were visible. Her light green skin was glowing with excitement, and a web of diamonds had been put over her shoulders to sparkle like dew on her bare arms. The long flowing gown of red and black was enchanted to float around by itself, just as if it were a living thing with its own feet or tentacles. The effect was hauntingly beautiful, just like the young dark fairy herself. “Just say no to Aura, and to that snide toad who thinks he’s buying a new toy. Just because they are wealthy, do not be swayed, they do not own us.”  
“I already promised Aura that I would…” she said, taking the staff again to lean on. She tired quickly without it, and the ceremony itself would be exhausting.  
“Don’t go,” she entreated, “Please don’t marry him! It’s a mistake, a huge mistake, and I have known Adrastia much longer than you have. She is untrustworthy, and you will be treated horribly. Please don’t go…”  
“I’m going as a queen, the Mistress of All Evil, not a slave, Mother.”  
“That doesn’t matter, the Abyss is the Abyss!”  
“I’m anxious as it is, do you have to upset me before my wedding?”  
“You’re not upset enough! I know what is waiting there for you! Don’t go, Little One…”  
“Mother, please! I’m already nervous! Don’t you understand? I have to do this, I have to go out into the world and try to make a life of my own. If not now, then never! I can’t just stay with you forever, I have to have my own life!”  
“Ahhh! Not like this!” Maleficent said emphatically. “This isn’t a new life for you, it’s a trap! Once they have you, they won’t be nice any more. The veil will come off, in more ways than one, and they will treat you as despicably as any slave because there won’t be anyone there to stop them! Don’t go!”  
“Mother!” she wrung her hands. “Stop saying things like that!”  
“I’m saying them because they’re true! I love you, and I don’t want to see you hurt. Or even worse, never see you again!”  
“Aura is going with me…”  
“She’s part of the problem! She will be leading them on…”  
“Silence!” she screamed. “That’s enough! I don’t want to hear any more!”  
So she had held her tongue, her daughter resenting her opinions, choosing to believe Aura and Adrastia over her, pointing out that Maleficent had never actually been there, where the other two had. Her twin sister was going with her, to make the transition smoother, and she was marrying a wealthy prince, Adrastia’s son. Maleficent noticed that her daughter had started to have her doubts during the ceremony, which was held in an ominous looking temple; a portal to the Abyss. The walls were of carved obsidian, and a layer of magic had been applied to everything, causing a glittering layer of golden mist and glowing red runes on the black floor. When she realized that the torches on the walls were bodies that had been set ablaze, she began to look worried. The new couple stood in the center of the magic circle, everyone else around them, standing on the edge. Faerie fire encircled them all, and twisting flames of all colors danced along the ceilings. Demons and devils from all over the Outer Planes attended, and the elder dark fairy’s heart sank. Adrastia had stood beside Maleficent, Aura with her, and a very large, brown skinned djinn on the fairy’s other side.  
“Oh, this is so perfect!” Adrastia said, mostly to Aura, whom she had become such close friends with. They seemed quite content to enjoy one another’s company and mostly ignore Maleficent, who was not happy and had nothing nice to say.  
But she was quiet through most of the ceremony, until the final assenting chorus, when they were all to agree to the binding, at which time she simply said, “No.” The chanting stopped, led by the hauntingly beautiful singing of Aura, and they all stared at her. “No,” she said, “I do not agree, and I will not give my consent.”  
“You’re ruining the ceremony, just sing, will you?” Adrastia hissed in her ear.  
“No, I won’t…” This was a binding spell, a variant of the demonic banishment rituals, and would trap the young sorceress in the Outer Planes. No, she certainly wouldn’t agree to it!  
They hadn’t given her another second; the enormous djinn at her side had simply thrown her out of the temple and slammed the doors shut. She remembered hearing Aura’s sweet giggle, and apologizing for her mother’s embarrassing behavior. Adrastia was furious, and thought they never should have invited her in the first place; Maleficent had interrupted the incantation and ruined everything. They were infuriated at her for all the right reasons; as the improper binding had given her dear daughter the legal loophole to escape. Devils were very picky about the bargains they made, and following rules to the letter. They had been able to take her, but because of the improper ceremony, they hadn’t been able to keep her, at least not all of her. When the young dark fairy had finally been released from the horrors of the Abyss, she escaped bodily, returning home, shrieking and incoherent, in her weeping mother’s arms, but part of her never left, and she would often be found thereafter, staring out at nothing while her golden yellow eyes widened in horror, and then she would suddenly shake, the spell seeming cast off. As the years passed, she became even more remote and strange, alternating her cold, aloof presence with sudden, inexplicable rages and then anxious, unmeetable neediness. She never again wore light, leafy clothing that enabled her skin to drink in the sunlight. Instead, she hid herself under layers and layers of black robes, retreating into the darkness of her old tower, and her skin was often the cold, greyish-lavender of her winter. The elder dark fairy never forgave Aura for her treachery, and for casting her sister into the Abyss. Aura sobbed and claimed ignorance, blaming Adrastia, but the truth spoke for itself, as far as their mother was concerned. That the younger dark fairy forgave her twin so quickly and easily also made her uneasy.


	46. Sleeping Beauty's Curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the spirit of fun, Aura dares her twin sister Maleficent to cast the same sleeping death curse on the baby princess Aurora that their mother cast long ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the scene from the original Sleeping Beauty, with 45 chapters of backstory!  
> Warning! Young Maleficent and her twin sister Aura have an incestuous lesbian relationship with heavy elements of domination and control.

Chapter 46  
Sleeping Beauty’s Curse

“Cast it!” Aura giggled. “I dare you!”  
“Hush,” her sister whispered back, watching the stupid pixies give the same useless gifts. The throne room was much darker than of old, although they had strung colorful banners from the heights and installed heavy, white, blue and purple woven wool carpet squares underfoot, the beautiful murals of elves and fairies had been painted over with dark grays. Thank you, Rudyard, the younger Maleficent thought, for useful gifts like common sense and an education, and thank you Phillip, for the light bright walls and indoor gardens we had so many years ago. But that was a different age, she thought, one where elves, dwarves, wizards and fairies were not rarities. A time before the Great Plague and well before the Maiden of Pain had cast her own spell upon the land. Maleficent yet bore a reminder of that terrible time of death; she still walked leaning upon a staff.  
There was a christening occurring, and they had paused to observe, after a visit to the still-undiscovered magical chamber hidden up in the castle attic. The king and queen were standing together on a dais, and their new little princess, about six months old, was presented to the assembled guests, who had come to the celebration from far and wide. She was to be named Aurora, after the blessed and winged Beloved Queen Aurora of old, whose rule had ushered in an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity to a people used to poverty and war. It was a very popular girls’ name, with almost every family, from the royalty to the peasantry having at least one Aurora in each generation. The yellow-eyed sorceress ignored her sister’s urges and smiled as the little Prince Philip made a face when told that the stinky baby in the cradle was his future bride. That was in great contrast to the way Maleficent had scowled as the three irritating pixies came floating down through an open window, introduced with great fanfare as their “Most honorable and exalted Excellencies, the Three Good Fairies; Mistress Flora, Mistress Fauna, and Mistress Merriweather.” Good fairies! She hissed silently, watching them cavort around.  
“I dare you to cast the same spell Mother cast over two hundred years ago, in the same stone hall! I dare you, dare you, dare you!”  
“Oh, hush! Someone will hear you; invisibility only affects the eyes.” She watched as the fat, silly pixie Flora pranced around, giving her gift of great beauty, in a magical swirl of fairy fire that imitated the great spiral of time. Apparently the entire universe had to move aside for this to occur, she noted with a snarl. Ever since she was very small, she had never been able to look upon the obese creatures without remembering how they looked, standing there naked with paddles and whips. Mother had been screaming that she couldn’t un-see it, couldn’t un-see it; and the younger dark fairy had realized later that she could never un-see it, either. The hideous fiends, she thought. And oh, the dreadful, foul things seraphic, gentle Mummy Aurora had been shrieking! It was the only time she’d ever heard the gracious, elegant queen utter such terrible things! The pixies had once gone by different names, long ago, at least that’s what Mother had told her. Then she raised an eyebrow at the promise that the princess would walk in springtime wherever she went. That sounded dangerous. Depending upon how far-reaching the spell might be, frost fairies, ice dragons, and trolls might come down from the mountains and try to kill the princess, if they were ever to figure out what was melting their snow. Maybe, Maleficent smiled, she would be right there to direct them.  
“I dare you to do it,” Aura giggled, “Come on, their names are so similar, and its’ the same silly, stupid old pixies! The Three Good Fatties! They would make big brown goat nuggets in their giant white starched diapers! Haha, the expression on Mother’s face would be priceless, too!”  
The younger dark fairy smirked involuntarily at the thought of the fat, gray haired pixies filling their huge, ruffled bloomers. The snobbish pixies had finally succeeded in elevating themselves to the status of “good fairies.” There were no longer any humans left who knew that they weren’t. Their constant obsessing with their own self-proclaimed immortality was annoying as well, especially since it was so painfully obvious that they were aging horribly. Instead of butterflies, their flight resembled that of bumblebees; a wonder at how they became and stayed aloft, with those tiny wings supporting those immense, round bodies. At least they were decently clothed, she thought with a shudder, thinking back to the boggarts. “I think the result, other than pixies with soiled undergarments, would be a lecture from Mother, mostly centering on the reaction humans would have to you if they only knew what you did when you were invisible.”  
“If you go cast the spell,” Aura bribed, eyeing the ceremony and running out of time, “I’ll serve you your ex-husband’s arrogant red head on a silver platter and stuffed with jewels and magical presents. Then I’ll rub your feet.”  
“You had me at ex-husband’s head,” the yellow eyed woman answered with a slight sneer, and teleporting, interrupted the elderly Merriweather’s tiresome blessing with a blast of fire and smoke. They were so unimaginative, why did they always give the same gifts? Maleficent nearly burst into laughter when she appeared; their great big granny gowns and bow tied hats were truly ridiculous, and their beady little eyes nearly bulged out of their wide, doughy faces at the mere sight of her. The Three Good Fatties, Maleficent thought, but she didn’t give in to the temptation to laugh, that would have ruined everything, so she kept her face as stony as possible. As the smoke cleared and the dark fairy became visible, the crowd screamed and cowered, while the king and queen simply stood there helplessly, looked horrified as they beheld her golden-eyed, unblinking dragon’s gaze.  
Flora, dressed in a pink matron’s frock with a giant pink bonnet perched on her head, covering most of her grey hair, dropped her jaw in amazement. “Maleficent? What is she doing here?”  
“What does she want?” Merriweather grumbled.  
Why wouldn’t I be, Maleficent thought, staring at the pixies, who had the temerity to glare angrily at her. Perhaps you have forgotten who this castle actually belongs to. Aura appointed her chosen humans to rule; no one appointed you three fools.  
“Oh no,” Fauna thought aloud, “She can’t be…”  
“Going to act up?” Merriweather snapped, “Oh, yes she can be! I told you!”  
Only Aura laughed while her twin sister re-enacted their mother’s old curse; Mallie was brilliant, her long black-hued gown moving like a spider web and she wielded her staff excellently. The elderly pixies were not only idiotic and incompetent but hilarious to watch. Aura giggled with glee when Mallie called the pixies rabble, and then nearly fell over with laughter when the blue fool became so angry she shook, magical sparkles shooting out of her behind, like some sort of hideous, giant bumblebee farting pollen sparks. Regaining control of herself, she watched as Mallie greeted the king and queen, and inquired as to why she had not been given an invitation.  
“You weren’t wanted,” Merriweather snapped, as the queen tried to salvage the situation.  
The blue fool’s nasty-toned comment about not wanting Maleficent around made Aura wince and whisper, “Ouch,” while the dark fairy then genuinely took offense and cast her curse on the infant princess, whose name was Aurora, Beauty of the Dawn, because she filled their lives with sunshine. That made Aura howl with barely contained laughter; people really were getting stupider, she was certain of it. She noticed Mallie narrowly escape the king’s spearmen in a blast of thunder and green faerie fire, as she concluded her curse. Aura wandered closer to the dais the king and queen were on, while most of the crowd ran away, screaming in terror. She watched in amusement as Merriweather gave the king and queen their “ray of hope.” True love’s kiss? Imbecilely amazing, she thought, why didn’t they just make it easy, like removing the princess’ shoes would wake her up? Or they could just sacrifice a goat and be done with it. Then again, Aura smiled, the pixies really weren’t very smart, perhaps even senile. Maybe the idiots didn’t even remember that the true love’s kiss part of the curse had been Mother’s own idea of wicked fun; or perhaps irony, she smiled. Or maybe, she pondered, the pixies actually enjoyed pain and suffering, just as much as the average devil, and if so, perhaps she could yet bargain with them; turn them into minions. They called themselves ‘good fairies,’ but no karmic verdict had ever been rendered upon them by anyone but Mother and some long-ago stinky ogres. Aura smiled, it didn’t matter what smelly ogres or Mother with her wagging finger and judgmental gaze thought. Then again, no, she thought, the pixies were simply too stupid. They did more damage pompously posing as good fairies than they ever could under evil direction. Merriweather’s cruel and pointless snap at Mallie an excellent example. She knew quite well the young dark fairy’s past of shyness and rejection, and her terrible adolescent reputation as little more than a prostitute. Most people hadn’t even talked to her during daylight hours, let alone invited her to baby namings at eleven o’clock in the morning, but men had most definitely sought out her company after nightfall. It certainly wasn’t necessary to slap her in the face with it; those memories were still very clear in her sister’s mind.  
Aura remained and silently watched the proceedings, listening first to the unbelievably arrogant discussion between the three pixies, unsurprised that they stole this infant princess as well. Another human slave for the fey, she smiled. The stupid pixies had grown fat and lazy indeed! Their pomposity and pretentions were comical, as were their assertions that it was such a sacrifice to live like mortals! As though the three fatties were immortal! Only the gods themselves were so, and transgressions seldom went well. When Mallie had concocted an immortality spell, they had decided to test it on her pet raven Diablo. He became exceptionally long-lived for a bird, but all the feathers around his eyes fell out, his beak turned bright orange-yellow, as did his feet, and he didn’t smell very good any more. Seeing that result, Aura and Maleficent had thought better of using the spell on themselves. Aura encouraged her to keep trying, but had a much better plan for herself. She married a god, and became immortal by extension, but so far, she hadn’t told her family about that aspect yet. There were many things she hadn’t yet told her mother or twin sister. She smiled to herself, and watched what now appeared to be three enormously fat peasant women running off into the night with the baby princess. So, the humans hadn’t learned anything, either. She watched and laughed as the king and queen wept, and shook her head. So ignorant, she thought to herself, such stupidity should hurt! The castle at last quiet, she flew from the ramparts into the night, invisible to all around her, up to her sister’s dwelling on the hilltop in the Moors. She remembered the wizards telling her that it had once been a grand castle and watch tower of Men and Elves in an age long forgotten. Aura had found it lonely and dull then, and would never have set foot in it again if Mallie hadn’t loved the place and made it her home. Now, wreathed in fog and inaccessible to Men, it was called the Forbidden Mountain. As she expected, Maleficent was sitting in her bedroom, wringing her hands in nervousness and regret.  
“That was splendid,” Aura laughed, appearing beside her.  
“That was the most ill-thought out, stupid thing I think I’ve ever done.”  
“It was fantastic! Did you see those idiot pixies’ beady little eyes bug out?” Aura squealed.  
“I unleashed an irresponsible amount of dark magic…”  
“For once in your life you weren’t boring!”  
“Dark magic moves opposite healthful life forces! The final end cannot be predicted…”  
“So? More pixie stupidity, that’s all.”  
“What’s going to happen when Mother finds out?”  
Aura laughed, “A disgruntled old fairy lady will wag her finger at you, nagging and criticizing for as long as anyone will listen, that’s what will happen.”  
“No, Aura,” Mallie answered softly, “She might be really angry.” To her knowledge, they had never seen Mother get truly angry. She complained, she objected, but she had never flown into a rage that young Maleficent could ever recall. Mummy Aurora, however, had told tales of her battling soldiers, killing dwarves in a great fury, and more.  
“Good,” Aura answered, “I want to see the expression on her face when she finds out!”  
“I do not,” the yellow-eyed woman answered, “Now I wish I hadn’t done that. Maybe I’ll cast the time travel spell and…”  
“No!” Aura said, “No, you won’t! Don’t be such a coward! Besides,” she said, kneeling down in front of her sister and removing her shoes, “Don’t you want your ex-husband’s head? I had all manner of gemstones and exquisite magical delights I was going to shove into his cranium, too. It would be the first time anything useful was ever in there,” she laughed, cradling the lilac-gray feet in her warm, golden hands. “Your feet are always cold,” she noticed.  
“Oh, it sounded good at the time,” the dark fairy admitted, wringing her long fingers together in agitation, waving the red-painted nails around in the air. “Why do I always let you talk me into these things?”  
“Settle down,” Aura said soothingly, rubbing her feet, graced with long, clawed toes that she could use much as others used fingers, and made her dancing supernaturally exquisite, under those long, mysterious gowns. “Just calm down and take a deep breath. Deep breaths, Mallie, deep breaths. There’s nothing to worry about. Yes, Mother is going to give us a windstorm. So, she’ll blow over.”  
“I am not so worried about that. It is the great wheel of negativity that I have suddenly caused to move opposite the currents of life! A curse sets other forces into motion,” she said, “Magical and physical. I should never have let you talk me into that without considering all the possible ramifications! Why do I ever listen to you?”  
“Because you love me.”  
“What if the humans attack?”  
“They won’t,” Aura assured her. “I have many ways to prevent that. Some hopeful portents and omens of patience from the priests will work wonders. If necessary, I can always appear in person and order them not to. So calm down.”  
The dark fairy did indeed take a few deep breaths, closing her eyes and centering herself. There is nothing to worry about, she told herself, trying to calm the growing tornado of fear and worry that was churning around inside of her. What an unwise thing to have done! Setting powerful, evil curses into motion caused other, less obvious or apparent forces to start moving, too, and she hadn’t thought this through at all, it had been a sudden, impulsive act that she now regretted at her leisure. Much more so than Mother’s displeasure, she was uneasy about the deep magical forces that had been summoned into play. A shadow began to grow in her mind, and the creeping fingers of death reached out in her direction. Whatever humor value it might have had for her sister would be utterly lost after a short while, and she rather doubted that Aura would really bring her the Prince of Hell’s head, stuffed with gems and charms. No, she told herself, don’t panic. I’m much more powerful than the pixies or any humans, I will prevail. She took another deep breath to calm herself, and Aura’s magic was starting to help, the warm, soothing hands on her feet, and little kisses on her knees were making her feel better. “What if…”  
“Do you remember the blessings we gave each other?” Aura laughed, “When we wanted to see if we could do it?”  
That brought a slight smile to Maleficent’s face. “Oh, yes, I remember that. You gave me the gift of beauty so I wouldn’t be so ugly anymore, and convinced me to give you the gift of orgasmic touch. I didn’t even know what that was, and I’m not sure your gift was very successful.”  
Aura laughed loudly and merrily, her sweet voice ringing out, “Oh, I love the gift you gave me, Mallie, and I gave you sultry beauty, not trained princess prettiness! Now that I think about it, you should have given the baby princess that or the orgasmic touch! Hilarious! There’s a gift those stupid pixies would never have thought to give, now isn’t it?”  
“Speaking of which,” Maleficent said, enjoying the wonderful sensation of her feet being touched by Aura’s magical hands, “What if…”  
“No more what if’s,” Aura said, standing up and sitting down next to her. “I’m actually proud of you,” she laughed, creating a bouquet of light. “You did it!” She put the flowers in her sister’s nervous hands to keep those long fingers busy and help calm her down. Then she leaned forward and kissed her, removing her heavy black headdress, and letting her long, shiny, dark hair free as it unwound from around her horns. It tumbled down around her in great cascading curls, nearly reaching the floor. “Now relax, and enjoy it. That was the epic prank of the century!”  
Maleficent took another deep breath and then smiled, looking at the twinkling delights in her hands. “That was fun,” she admitted.  
“It was better than fun,” Aura laughed, “It was wickedly delightful, and something we should do more often!”  
“I think once was enough,” the dark fairy answered.  
“Once is never enough,” Aura said, undoing the stiff, black collar around the dark fairy’s neck. “I wish you wouldn’t wear that thing, I don’t like getting poked in the eye.”  
“Maybe that’s why I wear it,” the dark fairy smiled. They both laughed, as Maleficent was a bit taller than her sister, not counting her horns.  
“How do you manage to not poke yourself?” Aura asked. The dark fairy laughed, as she had overcome that sort of lack of coordination years ago, and then Aura pulled the laces of her robe free, the dark purple and black silk falling to the floor to reveal the red inner lining. The dress beneath was many layers of the same black, violet and oxblood silk. Aura shook her head. “You have a lovely figure, but who would ever guess? You could hide a horse and a roomful of spears under that billowy gown!”  
Or another unwanted pregnancy, Maleficent thought sourly. Her ex-husband’s rotten, red, rat-like head would be a fine addition to her throne room. “I have never had much luck charming others with my appearance,” she answered, looking first at Aura’s enchantingly beautiful face, and then down at her lacy blue and white gown, embroidered with tiny pearls and crystal rosebuds that glittered like moonlight on a snowbank. The dress showed her lovely figure off to best advantage, and was open in the back, leaving her great, swan-like wings free. It was very easy to simply stare at such loveliness, and go along with whatever her musical voice was saying. Whatever she was saying… “I have been immune to your charm spells for years, Aura,” she said, while feeling her bodice unlaced and her dress slip down, “And it seems I always have something to hide.”  
“Of course you have,” the beautiful angel agreed, admiring the light lilac flesh revealed, pushing all the black silk aside, and kissing her way up Maleficent’s thigh, “And I like keeping you just for myself.”  
“I suspected as much,” the dark fairy answered, the lovely lips starting to work their magic. “I should tell you no, someday.”  
Aura laughed, “Yes, someday you will stand over my lifeless body and say firmly before bursting into weeping, ‘Oh, Aura! No! No! No, no, no more!” She laughed and then flicked her tongue over the fairy’s nether lips and said, “But for today, there will be more, and more! It doesn’t matter what men I’m with, I always pretend that I’m really with you.” She glanced over at the pile of books and scrolls covering most of the bed, and said, “Shove all that onto the floor, lie down and spread your legs. I want you more than anything!” Then she smirked, “You have lips that shame the red, red rose! Both upper and lower! You have the most gorgeous netherlips I’ve ever seen! I wonder if that senile old pixie had any idea what she was saying?”  
The dark fairy laughed, but didn’t throw her precious spellbooks and scrolls onto the floor, instead she piled them up on the edge of the bed against the wall. “Oh, hurry up!” Aura exclaimed, “Don’t alphabetize them! You can sort through that junk later!”  
“It’s not junk, it’s valuable knowledge. Some of these belonged to our grandmother…” the fairy began, only to be flipped over onto her back, and the gossamer white-gowned angel lying on top of her, dress pushed up over her waist, cutting off her description with a kiss. Aura pushed her legs apart with her knees, and fluttered her wings down on either side while she worked Maleficent’s lovely crimson lips apart with her tongue, and flicked the tip across her teeth. The dark fairy wrapped her arms and legs around her, and started running her toes through the white feathers. It was a sensation that thrilled her like no other, to lie on her back and feel the gently fluttering feathers across the soles of her feet and filtering through her long, flexible toes. She sighed loudly and moaned through the kiss as Aura slid into position, grinding together. She gently ran her fingernails in figure eight patterns along the base of Aura’s wings, and scraped harder when she heard the familiar wild noises. Aura liked pain, she knew that; relished those sharp sensations. Giving and receiving, but mostly inflicting it on her twin. The strongest peaks Aura ever had were when the dark fairy screamed. Sighing in pleasure, Maleficent dug her claws into the base of Aura’s wings, relaxing into their rhythm, enjoying it more because this time, for her, it was going to be all sweetness and Aura would take the bloodletting.  
“Tell me you love me,” Aura stopped kissing and exploring her mouth long enough to say.  
“I love you, of course I love you!”  
“Scream it while you peak, and I want to feel it.” She fluttered her shimmering white feathers against the fairy’s feet, and put a hand on one of her horns, limiting her movement. Restraint had also always been a part of their intimacy, ever since Aura had found those iron-studded leather handcuffs. The fairy obeyed, and raked her claws down Aura’s back while confessing her true love in gasping screams as she climaxed. As she came down from her rush, Aura resumed kissing her, and looked deeply into those yellow, gold flecked eyes. “I love you, too, darling,” she whispered, “Being with you is wonderful and amazing. I feel whole, full, and complete, only when I’m doing you.”  
“I know,” Maleficent answered, a blush spreading across her pale face. Aura needed what they had. While the dark fairy needed Aura’s love, desperately, the reverse was true for her twin, who needed the fairy’s body, to hold her, possess her, and especially to hurt her, to feel anything at all. No one else would do. They’d tried that, long ago, and quickly realized that it didn’t work. Men or women, elves, fey, or human, Aura had killed slaves and worshippers with her excesses and still not felt the way she did in her twin’s arms. “I like it this way,” Maleficent whispered, gripping feathers between her toes.  
Aura reached down between the fairy’s legs and laughed, “I can tell!” She smiled cruelly at her lover, and said, “It’s a reward for taking my dare,” she giggled, sliding down to lie between the fairy’s legs and lick her. She was already wet, and warm, dexterous fingers slipped easily inside while the angel’s tongue heightened her sensation. Aura’s gift of orgasmic touch extended to any part of her body that she used to touch someone else with; hands, wings, lips, even the brush of her hair and sometimes just a brief glance, was enough to send others swooning into paroxysms of ecstasy. But she had quickly grown bored with mere physical responses, and needed more exquisite delights to satisfy her ever growing need for stimulation. Her mere presence and thrilling touch were enough to delight others, but the reverse was never true. No one had ever succeeded in melting her icy heart, although countless lords, princes and brave warriors had tried. Only the shy, magical creature who had given her the gift, and who bloomed into sultry beauty that was the result of her own blessing would excite Aura herself. Even Aura’s own godlike husband didn’t really thrill her, once the novelty had worn off. Nor did simple touches satisfy her once she was out of childhood, and she began to explore the exquisite experiences of dominating, controlling, and inflicting pain.  
“Maybe we should…” the dark fairy gasped and breathed, “Just get dressed and…”  
“Relax,” Aura told her. “The door is locked, and besides, we’d hear her coming, what with all that noisy wing flapping she does.”  
“I know, but every raven for miles has told her by now…”  
“The chance of getting caught makes it more exciting! It always has!”  
“Aura!”  
“Spread your legs out wider, and put your feet back on my wings. Pull my hair.” The dark fairy did as she was told, and gently tugged on Aura’s long golden curls, enjoying the silky sensation of her tresses falling through her fingertips. “Harder,” the lovely angel commanded, “And rip at my wings with your feet. Let me feel your claws.” She added another finger to her stroking, and found the fairy already wet and loose enough for what she wanted. Before Maleficent could say anything, she pushed her entire hand in and watched her twin’s shocked expression.  
“No!” the dark fairy said, “I’ve asked you before not to do that!”  
“But you love it,” the angel laughed cruelly, “We both know you do.” She moved her hand and settled her fingers into position, stroking from the inside, and adding the pleasure of her divine tongue, licking and sucking the little nub that would quell all complaining, her tongue lingering around the gold ring that pierced it and signified their eternal love. She laughed softly to herself, never losing the rhythm of her motions. Yes, the dark fairy did love it, despite her worried whimpers and sighing, and Aura didn’t mind doing it, because she loved what came afterward. “Say it,” she commanded.  
“I love you,” the dark fairy whispered, “Mistress of All Evil! My Maiden of Pain!”  
“Scream it,” the angel demanded, working her into her second orgasm, her other hand stimulating herself, enjoying watching her sister first whisper and then after a few moments, making her scream it before allowing her to climax. “You are so beautiful,” she admired, watching the movements of her muscles and the way her dark hair was messily bunched up across the blankets and around her horns. Most beautiful of all was her own left hand, deeply placed inside her lover; vaginal lips coming to a close upon her upper wrist, the gold ring glittering beautifully. This was indeed, her favorite sight, and she brought herself to her own climax, admiring it. “You belong to me,” she said softly. “Promise you will never have anyone else.” Breathing deeply, the dark fairy with the unsettling eyes agreed, she frightened people more than enchanted them. For her, there was no chance of any truer love than what she currently had. Although now, her magical gift activated and heightened through their lovemaking, she was truly beautiful. “Say it,” Aura commanded, a nod and a grunt was not enough.  
They’d done this enough times before that Maleficent well knew the magic words, “My beautiful Mistress of All Evil, my love, my Aura, Maiden of Pain, I will never have anyone else but you.” And Aura had a fiendish way of ensuring complicity.  
“Correct,” the exquisitely beautiful blond angel said, still stimulating herself, and enjoying her own second peak, “You won’t.” With a smirk, she balled up her fist and yanked it out, thrilling at the sight and the sound of her twin’s scream.  
Maleficent sat up, squeezing her thighs together and quelling another scream, “I asked you not to! Why do you keep doing that?” It was a rhetorical question, it was how every lovemaking session between them had ended for over a decade.  
“It’s just a little love tap to keep you faithful, darling,” Aura laughed, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling while she smiled, a cherubic expression on her face, “And besides, you like it. You keep telling me so, yourself.”  
The dark fairy scowled, her eyes flashing. “Aura, it hurts for days after you do that. And I don’t like wetting myself, either.”  
Aura laughed loudly, and pulling her own dress back down, said, “That’s the best part.” Her laughter, while cruel, was nonetheless enchanting and lovely, because of her beauty and the merry twinkle of her voice, which disguised the evil intent.  
Maleficent seized her gown and pulling it back on said, “It is not! It isn’t funny, either! Stop laughing!” Then, putting her robes back on over her dress, she said, “Then I won’t have sex with you any more, if all you’re going to do is laugh at me when I ask you not to do something.”  
“It is quite funny,” Aura smirked, evil showing through her angelic features. “I like watching you peak, then pulling my fist out, and knowing that you’re sore for days afterward. And I know what you look like naked, your legs spread out wide and your cleft all wet, with my hand inside you. When I see you standing perfectly still, harsh and unsmiling, leaning on your staff and not wanting to step too far, because you’re stiff and sore from when I was with you, it fascinates me. I know what is under those robes. Thinking that you’re starting to wet yourself makes me want to do it even more,” she breathed, running her fingers across the fairy’s cheek as she pulled away, a twinkle of orgasmic magic floating upwards and dissipating.  
The fairy stared at her serene, icy smile, and the thought that maybe her twin didn’t love her at all, but had truly just been enjoying only the feeling of ownership and those physical sensations, frightened her. Maybe, she thought, Aura really didn’t understand love at all, any love of any kind, other than the receiving of adoration. It unnerved her to think that maybe they weren’t playacting at all, and that Aura didn’t love her, but was just manipulating her the way she toyed with everyone else, and when the angel with the pixie twinkle in her eyes and magic smile had taken everything from her that there was to give, she might kill her like one of the many unfortunate slaves that had fed Aura’s appetites over the years. Perhaps, she thought, she wasn’t special to her twin, the way she had always assumed that she was. She looked away, and remembered a statement their mother had made, sadly resigned to fate, “Aura is an even more beautiful reflection of Aurora, with the greed of Stephan, the lovely, cold grace and obsessiveness of Clecie, and the heart of a dragon. She is completely and utterly evil.”  
“Go ahead,” Aura laughed, seeming to read her mind, “Tell Mother. Do it.”  
“Speaking of whom, I am surprised she has not come looking for me, to demand an accounting of my behavior.”  
“I’ll tell her,” Aura laughed, “I’ll tell we’ve been having sex together for decades. That when she kissed our foreheads and told us goodnight, that as soon as she left, we felt each other up…”  
“Silence!” the dark fairy thundered. Aura had been threatening her with that for years. The young dark fairy had been intimidated at first, then as the years wore on, it had become a different form of blackmail. To tell Mother now would simply be cruel. She took up her staff, and considered casting a spell on Aura, perhaps a most appropriate spell, one that would cause toads and spiders to fall from her mouth, or make her walk with a limp… She was interrupted by her raven Diablo. He cawed to her that their mother demanded their presence; every raven in the countryside had heard the news about the cursing at the christening, and had reported back to her. Dark storm clouds were brewing, and the ravens were circling, green fire erupting from earth to sky and back down again. She sighed, wondering what would be the best thing to tell Mother. Apparently, she did not see the humor in the whole event. “Are you coming with me?” she asked Aura.  
“No,” Aura sneered, “Unless you want me to tell her how wet your slit gets.”  
“It was your idea!”  
“No one else even knows I was there,” Aura laughed, “Have fun with Mother!”  
“What?” the dark fairy snapped, “You thought this up! You come with me and admit to your part in it!”  
“What for?” Aura snarled. She squeaked and squawked as the dark fairy seized her and teleported through the ether to a small island in the center of the main lake in Fairyland, where the elder dark fairy was waiting, her eyes smoldering and the air crackling around her. Aura screamed as they appeared, and fell down with a whimper, despite the firm grip her twin had upon her arm. “I don’t like traveling that way!” she whined, mostly for effect. She stood up as the expressions of the other two were not sympathetic. Dark fairies, she scowled, and then made certain to appear sad and penitent. After all, someone could be watching them through any type of scrying device. Mirrors, crystal balls, enchanted pools, the possibilities were endless.  
Maleficent looked at her two children; the beautiful blond seraph sparkling in light blue and white, pearls and crystals glittering upon her gown, and the dark fairy, pale and silent, in her long black robes. Neither one wanted to meet her eye, but Mallie especially seemed guilty, leaning on her staff, and petting Diablo to avoid looking at her. “I heard from the ravens what happened this morning at the christening.” She stopped and took a deep breath, “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”  
Aura smiled, “Don’t worry, Mother, I’ll smooth everything over.”  
“What happened?” she asked, disregarding the charming pixie twinkle in Aura’s eyes. She was so beautiful, and her sweet smiles and laughter reminded her so much of Aurora, but that was where the resemblance ended. Where Aurora had done no harm, Aura left a trail of tears behind her. Maleficent hadn’t wanted to believe it at first, but when Aura was sixteen, she had looked back and the lovely singing angel’s chain of damage was undeniable; Ezelle’s murder the final tragic proof. Aura thrilled and charmed people, used them to get whatever she wanted, and then discarded them without a backward glance, unless of course, there was more she could get out of them. Then she farmed them, starting with her own family, whom she saw as the trees in her garden, reliably producing fruits year after year for her own uses. Aurora had never seen through her, refusing to believe the ugly truth that became more apparent every year, hoping for the best instead. Far more familiar with the inner mental workings of evil, Maleficent was quicker to identify it and call it by its proper name. By then, Aura hadn’t cared much what she thought, and Aurora’s memory was beginning to slip. She would forget where she left her shoes, let alone follow the intricate trails of dear, sweet Aura’s lies. “Start at the beginning, and then, proceeding along the established sequence of your own actions, explain what happened. Then, when you have come to the end, instead of whining, arguing, or further lying, cease speaking.”  
Aura acted shocked, and began to protest. In the angry glare of her own mother’s eyes, she stumbled, and proclaimed, “I wasn’t even there!” The elder dark fairy glared at her, and she sighed, ceasing her protestations.  
“Aura dared me to recast your old curse,” the younger Maleficent said, noticing her sister’s angry glance. “She promised me my ex-husband’s head on a silver platter stuffed with magical treasures if I cursed Stefan and Leah’s infant daughter Aurora with a sleeping death curse. We thought it was quite clever because of the names. I was just going to make a show of it until Merriweather offended me.” She looked up at her mother’s doleful expression and then added, “I cursed her to die after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. I thought it was funny at the time. Those snobbish, evil pixies were looking at me like I was a rabid dog! And I have more of a right to be in that castle than they do; it’s Mummy Aurora’s house! We grew up there, and they were banned! Mother, I hate them, and they insulted me first!”  
“I understand,” the elder dark fairy said, noticing the intensity of her daughter’s hatred for the pixies, her skin was taking on a more lavender hue, and her eyes began to glow. There was no love lost between young Maleficent and the three pixies; they had made her cry shortly after her birth by screaming at her, and they had always shunned her and called her wicked, and a monster, beginning the cruelty which never truly abated. Alone of Aurora and Maleficent’s four daughters, she had been singled out for suspicion and judgment. It was an evil that Maleficent could never excuse or forgive. Then she turned to Aura. “Tell me what you saw.”  
“Mallie putting on quite a show,” Aura giggled, giving her twin a sidelong glance and knowing, secret look, stopping only when her sister looked away in chagrin and Mother’s eyes narrowed. Then she grew serious and said, “We’re sorry, Mother. We won’t do anything like that again, and we’ll try to minimize the damage. Besides, it was all the pixies’ fault! They snubbed Mallie and Merriweather told her that she wasn’t wanted. Those senile little snips are getting meaner with age.”  
Maleficent sighed, doubting anything that Aura said, except the cruelty of the pixies. “The damage has already been done. Do you realize how this makes people look at us? I’m sure you do, the question is why did you convince your sister to do that?” There was a reason, of that she was certain, but what it was she didn’t yet know. With Aura, there was always an ulterior motive, for everything. She looked over at the tall, grayish woman with glowing yellow eyes, and sighed. “I am however disappointed in you. I thought you would have more sense than that.”  
“It was poorly thought out,” the younger Maleficent admitted. “I think we did it because of their names; Stefan, Aurora, and Leah. I’m sure you know that many humans are naming their daughters Aurora, after Beloved Queen Aurora, and this little princess has a description to go with it. That was compelling, and Aura found it hilarious.”  
“I’m certain she did,” was the reply, the elder dark fairy looking askance at Aura.  
“It isn’t my fault,” Aura exclaimed, “I’m not the one who stood up in front of a roomful of people and cast a curse. Besides, it’s still the pixies fault, going around calling themselves ‘good fairies’ and spewing their blessings. They’ve been interfering in our lives and those of humans for centuries! Shouldn’t we do something? Part of a beauty blessing was to walk forever in springtime. How is that going to affect the animals, the forests, and the fields? The seasons themselves have been cursed by those fools! They’ve stolen another baby princess, too. Another little blond, this one named Beauty. Or Aurora, or something,” she guessed, not quite remembering what the ball of blankets and poop’s name had been. Pooping Beauty, she giggled to herself, and then quelled her laughter. But she knew that mentioning the baby would distract Mother from her recriminations of them.  
“That is a sad situation indeed,” the elder dark fairy said, looking askance at Aura. “Under their care, it is unlikely the poor babe will survive. If you would, check on the baby, and send some sort of portent to her parents, to reassure them. I would like to talk to Mallie alone, if I might.”  
Aura looked slighted, and for a moment a truly vindictive expression went across her face, then she banished it, and her customary sweetness was resumed. “Of course, she answered happily, thinking to herself that Mother had always favored the one who bore her name, and shot a glance back at Mallie, silently warning her not to tell their mother too much. If she did, punishments would follow. So she flew off, and made herself invisible to human eyes. So, Mother still loved her sister more, did she? There were still many ways to twist this to her own advantage, and if Mallie wasn’t going to play nice, she could feel the burn of Aura’s anger until she changed her mind. But first, she would give Mallie one more chance.  
Maleficent looked at her silent daughter, taller than she was, draped in oxblood, shimmering violet and black, leaning on her staff, long fingers nervously playing with the crystal ball on the end. She had taken to putting a blood red paint over her nails, which made her skin appear greener than it would have otherwise, and drew attention to her extremely long, spiderlike fingers and hands. At times she was a soft lilac, and often grayish, but now she appeared an odd sort of blue. She clearly wasn’t happy, and Maleficent would have put her arms around her, except that there was no softening in the icy demeanor that would have allowed her to do so, and the spiked black collar was perfectly poised to poke her eyes. She had always referred to the young Maleficent as Little One, as she was growing up, and it seemed odd now, because she was taller than her mother, and far more severe. Her icy cold rigidity made touch seem an impossibility. She had never been a light hearted child, always quiet and thoughtful, but she used to smile, years ago, when she still found joy in the world around her and the books she loved so much. Now she stood there, still as a stone, gazing at her with those beautiful but distant yellow eyes, and then she sighed and glanced away. But this child was capable of love, Maleficent knew that, it was the pixies gifts of never being blue and always being happy that had become perverted and made Aura into a monster. She wished she had noticed it earlier, maybe there would have been some time to change things, but she hadn’t known the pixies had even worked their wicked blessings until the wizard had become suspicious and extracted a confession from them. She waited, wondering if her daughter would volunteer any additional information, but she didn’t. So she asked, “What were the two of you doing there in the castle to begin with?”  
“We used to live there, Mother,” was the answer, “Do you remember? Because humans have forgotten about us, does not mean we have forgotten our old home. My secret chamber is still undisturbed and as it always was.”  
It was a curious quirk of fate, that, Maleficent thought. “Yes, I remember, but the castle does not hold the same memories for me that it does for the rest of you.”  
“Do thoughts of whips, soldiers, and iron chains still haunt you?”  
Maleficent startled, and was once again reminded that the unpredictable woman who had returned from the Outer Planes after her brief marriage to Adrastia’s son was not the sweet, gentle scholar who had left. Yet another reason, and perhaps the greatest, to grieve her innocent overture of friendship to the she-devil, so many years ago! “Yes, they do,” she answered, after a long pause, noticing the satisfied smirk on her daughter’s face. What was she thinking? “Why wouldn’t they?” She wondered what to do, if there was anything she could possibly say, but saw only contempt in those yellow eyes. “Is there something you would like to tell me?” Something besides those initial stories of fiendish cruelty and obscene devilry that the panicked young dark fairy had shared, at her return from the Abyss, weeping and swearing that she would never under any circumstances return to her husband.  
“Is there something you would like to know?” she laughed in answer, a cold, haughty sound. Her pupils widened, and she held in her mind the landscape around the temple, which had been in the back of Adrastia’s palace. Looking out those windows had yielded the vista of an unforgettable “garden,” of beings. In an unending desert under a blood-red sky, streams of molten lava flowed like water between craters, steam and smoke spewing from geysers and cracks in the barren ground. Thousands of anguished beings, moaning and screaming endlessly, staggering about blindly, falling into the pits or lava, twisted up with pain; while in their eyes, all vacant hollows of darkness, within which swirled an eternity of bright pulsating stars. These creatures were left in the garden, until they reached a maximum level of agony, whereupon they were consumed. Let Mother enjoy that little bit of scenery, she smiled, watching the elder dark fairy freeze in horror. To her surprise, Mother touched her shoulder, so gently and sweetly that she instantly felt young again, and so she backed off angrily. “Well?” she demanded, “Is there anything else you would like to know?”  
Much, the older woman thought sadly, the most important of which is do I ever get you back from the Abyss? Not just physically, but your mind and heart? What happened to your soul? She noticed her child sneering at her, backing away at her touch, and wanted to cry. Anything she said now would only provoke her, so she simply answered, “No, but I will listen if there is anything you want to tell me.” She felt like withering under the cold stare that met her gaze, and sighed in sadness at the incredible distance that had developed between the two of them. An even more frightening thought was how Aura didn’t seem at all disturbed by the time the twins had spent on the Outer Planes. Then something occurred to her, “How did you phrase your curse? I ensnared myself by including the clause ‘beloved by all who know her,’ and then supervising the appallingly neglectful pixies, and thus including myself in the belovedness.”  
The young sorceress narrowed her eyes and thought, trying to remember what she said. She had been so taken by the moment that she didn’t quite recall. “I cannot remember, it seems a blur. I was trying to deliver the curse and avoid being speared by the king’s men. It matters not, we shall simply avoid the wee beast, and if the child dies from the pixies’ neglect, so be it. Let it be upon their heads.”  
“But there might be healing in the…”  
“I think not,” was the crisp reply. Her eyes narrowed, “And don’t you help them!”  
She sighed, wondering what might be the best course of action. “I think perhaps to send Aura, if you have no interest. She is in dire need of a heart and a soul. Perhaps is she felt the sort of love that I once experienced…”  
Her words ended abruptly in a fit of shrieking, diabolical laughter from her daughter. “You have no idea what you’re saying!” she cackled. She could just picture it; Aura tying the girl up in a dungeon and applying liberal doses of her special interpretation of love. Shaking her head, she smiled in grim amusement, yes, torturing victims far from the eyes of the world was what Aura loved, indeed. And she relished it even more when her captives loved her in return. “Remember you sent her to go look after the infant princess,” she finally said, after recovering her breath, “I will have nothing to do with it!” Then she vanished, leaving the elder fairy wondering why everything had gone so horribly wrong.


	47. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The young dark fairy Maleficent and her twin sister Aura discuss their relationship and experiences, while the "good fairies," take the baby princess Aurora out into the woods to keep her safe, and the elder dark fairy contemplates killing the pixies while she takes care of the infant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! References to abuse and rape. Maleficent gave birth to all of those creatures we see in her decrepit castle, after being cursed. Depressed and psychotic, she treats her litter of half-devils horribly, and hides the truth from her mother. The half-devils are small, and when they were born, they were mouse-sized, which is how she had so very many of them.

Chapter 47  
Memories

The young dark fairy Maleficent appeared in her magical study, still chuckling from the conversation with Mother. Sitting down on her favorite cushioned chair, she created a nice cup of herbal tea for herself and laughed anew. Mother seemed to have become a hopeless romantic, and believer in love. Oh, if you only knew what goes on, she laughed again. Then again, Mother’s life seemed to consist of conversing with birds, creating new forms of flowers, and sleeping in trees that she had individual names for. The occasional visits to the old fortress atop the mountain were her only interactions with anyone at all, and those were polite conversations with her daughter. But Mother was essentially a forest spirit, her horns were her only nod to the dark fairy ancestry that must exist somewhere back in their family tree, an ancestry that had unexpectedly blossomed anew in herself. It was a subject that interested her greatly, and despite years of research, she had yet to discover the exact causes, although dragon blood was the most probable explanation. She was certain that Mother was still hiding something, despite several tearful confessions of a serpent’s spirit in a magical garden once upon a dream, but what it might be she didn’t know. Mother’s descriptions always sounded disjointed and confused. All of Queen Clecie’s old books and spells had contained references and tantalizing hints, but little real knowledge. Amidst the formidable flood of recipes for beauty creams, perfumes and diary entries on fashion, were occasional bits of useful arcana and information. Most of her references were to a very powerful magic mirror she owned. Apparently the former queen hadn’t been privy to any more edifying facts about the origin of dark fairies than anyone else, or hadn’t recorded it. Her work on necromancy however, had been amazing. Turning herself and her husband into immortal vampires was no small feat. Their fates were strange indeed, she thought. Good King Edward, given supernatural strength and immortality, his only weakness that he could be destroyed by sunlight or fire, had managed to get himself burnt to ashes by a dragon shortly after, and poor beautiful Clecie was slain by lowly dwarves. Oh, the shame of that! She had wished many times that she had access to Clecie’s magic mirror which had been such a powerful resource for her spell casting and potion making. But no, Mummy Aurora had destroyed it with a stone, believing it to be a source of evil. The young sorceress sighed, just because they didn’t know how to use it didn’t mean that later generations wouldn’t! The magic mirror was one of the few things that really tempted her to use dangerous sorcery like the time alteration spell. When there were few outcomes, such as the visit to the Yaga’s hut, it wasn’t as much of a gamble. The immortal goddess’ own magic was much more powerful than fairy enchantments, and in her strange old house that spanned the eons, only the hag’s will mattered. That limited the variations that could result from shifts in time, and ensuring Mother’s and thus her own survival was definitely worth a spell. But finding the magic mirror would be far more complex. It was somewhere farther back, somewhere in the White Castle. She would have to choose a time between when Mother had been using it, and when Aurora returned to destroy it. That was a tiny sliver of time to aim for, when throwing herself back through the great river. Aiming for solid little islands like the Yaga’s hut was much easier. The eddies around them were constant and predictable, with their own unique energies that were maintained. Bringing bodies along on time travel adventures was perilous, indeed. Much easier was navigating the eternal river in the form of a spirit and simply observing. That was simpler, and less likely to result in disaster. Indeed, any physical adventures should be prefaced by repeated spiritual excursions until the way was extremely familiar, and any disruptions would not be fatal. She liked to refer to more than one spellbook, and feel absolutely certain about the enchantments. It was always possible that the wizard who penned a spell wrote his last. Arrangements and elements, she was fairly certain she had most of the spell components that she might need, as she put the runes on the outer edge of the circle, and began calculating the adjustments. There wasn’t much room for errors. Seven years sounded like a long time, until you were planning to fling your body backwards in time, without being seen by anyone, and not materializing into any other objects. And she still wanted the magic mirror, despite Mother’s tearful and tender confession of her experiences with the evil dragon spirit she claimed lived within it, and that had been the origin of their horns and innate magical powers that were so much stronger than normal fairies. The spirit being more concentrated in herself than in her mother, her greater powers and purring were explainable, as well. And her eyes, she thought. Those eyes that brought her nothing but grief throughout her life. Her sisters all had Mummy Aurora’s beautiful eyes, but she had golden yellow cat-like eyes that terrified rather than bewitched. She discovered early on that she could transform herself, as well as others, into dragons, if she chose. Being a dragon was quite a potent and manipulative frame of mind, much different than what most humans imagined. Although she had more of the outward traits and magical powers, her twin sister had more the dragon’s heart and mind. She suspected that the dragon had been extracting revenge upon Edward for killing him by transfixing his beautiful wife and influencing their offspring, making them dragon-born. Although Mother had been distraught at the idea, the younger Maleficent was not. She understood perfectly the dragon’s mind, and if she were to gain access to the mirror’s power and spirit, what might she accomplish? Much to ponder… She was interrupted by the flapping of wings; Aura.  
“What are you doing? Still looking for a way to steal that old magic mirror?”  
“It would be a very valuable asset. It is a great pity that Aurora destroyed it.”  
“She was rather simple,” Aura answered, “And had no real concept of what she was doing. A powerful tool in the hands of a fool can only be broken or misused.”  
“I do not think she was a fool, only feeling threatened by something she didn’t understand.”  
“And simply leaving it alone wasn’t an option?” Aura sneered dismissively, and then eyed her with secretive delight. “You still haven’t figured it out, have you?” she laughed.  
“Figured what out?”  
The only answer was more mocking laughter. “But speaking of fools who have no concept of what they are doing, what have you decided?”  
“I am not a fool, Aura.”  
“Prove it. Make the right decision. I’m still trying to live down the embarrassment of your failed marriage. And I even went to the Abyss with you.”  
“Why must you bring that up?” the dark fairy asked, holding a closed book to her chest, as though squeezing it would make her memories go away. It had seemed like a grand adventure at first, and the promise of power intoxicating. Aura had told her that she would be Queen of the Abyss, the Mistress of all Evil. Armies of devils and demons to command, servants and slaves to satisfy her every wish; every dream of dark power she had ever privately indulged in was about to come true. Yes, her new husband was irritating from the first, but she tried to ignore that, to work with and tolerate him, maybe even learn to love him. Perhaps if he had tried too, things might have worked out differently, she thought, but it was a lie she frequently told herself, along with the lie that Aura and Adrastia hadn’t set her up. Adrastia’s son had only been interested in feeling superior to others, and in his arrogance was intolerable. He was a selfish, inept lover; and ugly too, with a shock of red hair, an enormous, long, rat-like nose and a constant, rodentish sneer. Few things annoyed her more than an arrogant idiot and Maleficent still wondered what her sister had found so entrancing about the fool. It must have been the gold and treasure, she thought. “Why didn’t you just marry him yourself?” she asked, glancing over to see Aura lounging on her bed, lying gracefully on her side, chin propped up on her elbow. She was so lovely it was easy to forget how diabolically evil she was.  
“Because you could never do any better,” was the laughing answer, her voice as sweet and clear as ringing bells. The implication behind the laughter was that the horned sorceress was the ugly sister, lucky to have whatever she received. “I knew I could marry a god, and improve our position considerably, but I was lucky to find a demigod,” she said, giving her sister a sidelong glance, “After that epic fit you threw!”  
Maleficent sighed in exasperation and shame, “I would thank you for not mentioning that,” she said, trying to block the awful memories that were suddenly shooting through her long-chained up mind to howl freely once more. And howl she had; screaming past all sense, shrieking that she couldn’t stay there any longer, wanted to go home… Now it was the greatest source of embarrassment and shame imaginable. If only…  
“If only everyone in the Abyss hadn’t seen it, there would be more of a chance of other people forgetting it,” Aura reminded her. “I thought we were all actually having a lot of fun before you had to go and do that.”  
“You were having fun,” the sorceress recalled resentfully. “I didn’t want him, you did.”  
“So were you,” Aura reminded her, “I think as long as it was just the three of us, everything was going well, if those fools hadn’t upset you by sacrificing that girl you would have been fine.”  
That was an understatement, Maleficent thought, recalling the temple and the human sacrifices, but unlike what Aura glibly assumed, she hadn’t been fine when it was just the three of them. She had been a confusing whirlwind of upset, lonely, doubtful, and terrified, along with jealous and suspicious that something was going on, and that she had been set up. Aura seemed to enjoy the three-way honeymoon with Maleficent’s new husband more than the bride, and they had seemed so familiar with each other; so accustomed to what they were doing that exploring Maleficent’s body and limits had been the only new part of it, for them. “Again,” she pointed out, “Why didn’t you just marry him yourself?”  
“Remember?” she laughed, “We were going to rule together? It was for both of us, and we needed the gold from them. Don’t you remember? Gold from the devils and power from the gods?”  
“I certainly do,” the sorceress replied, remembering how excited she was at first, when they arrived in the great, gleaming palace, and Aura had taken her to her new bedroom, which she was supposed to share with her new husband, as well. They had giggled in nervous elation, and then embraced with passionate immediacy. Aura’s gift of orgasmic touch had so many levels! Sometimes only a brief touch of her hand was enough to create well-being, or the same soft brushing could create an unparalleled ecstasy. But real excitement transferred from Aura herself was electrifying. ‘We’re here,’ Aura had told her in between excited kisses, ‘You and me. Now we’re richer than anyone on earth! Just do what I tell you to, and everything will be wonderful!’ So the green-skinned sorceress had agreed, and gone along with what Aura had directed her to do, starting with that first lovemaking session between just the two of them, which had redefined their relationship from illicit lovers to master and slave. In between Aura’s touches of ecstasy and her own excitement at the novelty of it all, she had allowed and enjoyed the piercings of her ears, nipples, navel, and clitoris. The gold hoops and jewels had looked most alluring on her, and then Aura had smiled slyly and said, ‘The nipple piercings are for your husband, that last one is for me. It’s our wedding ring.’ That was the way it was supposed to be, she reflected, so why did they need everyone else? Anyone else?   
“But you lost your mind and started shrieking ‘I want to go home! I want my mother!’ so horribly, and embarrassingly, that Adrastia finally went to fetch her to come get you. That was the most mortifying event of my life!” Aura recalled, “It was an embarrassment I have never recovered from, and no one has forgotten it…”  
“No matter how much they may try, and I certainly have tried! I might succeed if you would stop reminding me of it!”  
“My dear,” Aura said slowly, “You are a legend throughout the Abyss; and an utter disgrace to the forces of evil.”  
“I am not, Aura!”  
“Sadly, you are. I needed you to be a shining jewel for me, but instead you were crying and sobbing like some captive wood sprite, separated from her tree!”  
“The three weeks I spent there were the worst of my life!” the young sorceress hissed. “I trusted you! When you told me I would be a queen, I pictured myself on a throne, with other people doing all the unpleasant duties, not me, on my knees, being other people’s entertainment…”  
“You had one day by yourself after I left!”  
“I didn’t like any of those people. I only loved you, and I needed your magic touch,” the dark fairy admitted, “Not the orifices, genitals and tentacles of fiends! And I lost my mind when I realized I was pregnant.”  
Aura smiled and sat up, holding out her arms, and the sorceress accepted her embrace. “I suppose I should have taken you with me,” she sighed sadly. “But that is in the past. And you have to admit, we did have some fun.”  
“The same fun we can have without the rest of them and the perils involved.”  
“Indeed,” Aura agreed, “You certainly ruined that. Now we have nothing to show for all that effort but your litter of imbecilic monsters.”  
The sorceress scowled, “Someone must have cast a terrible and powerful spell on me, for that to happen. Why didn’t you help me instead of agreeing with that horrible she-devil? You could have pointed out that the beastly, ugly devils are clearly on her side of the family, starting with her ratty son! Especially when she called me a greedy, green-skinned whore.”  
“Because all of my arguments were invalidated the moment you said, ‘I don’t know.’” Aura answered slowly, “We could have forced her to give us gold and treasure to not say anything about the little devils, but no! When she stood up and haughtily told us that these clearly weren’t any relation to her, and asked you who or what their father was, and you said, ‘I don’t know.’ I don’t know?” Aura hissed. “I don’t know? That was the perfectly wrong answer!”  
“Then you should have answered for me, I was in agony and the two of you were shouting at me.”  
“You were supposed to bear the new prince-apparent, not a litter of rats!” Aura snapped.   
“I wanted to drink the potion and not have anything further to do with it all,” the dark fairy replied. “I hated him, I hated his fiendish mother, and I didn’t want to be part of their family at all, I only wanted to be rid of them and never think about them again!”  
“Oh, they’re rid of you, all right,” Aura said angrily, “And your litter of ugly little monsters! They’re also mostly rid of me, thanks to your stupidity.”  
“I am not stupid, Aura, and as far as the matter goes, they look just like their father, when he’s not casting a glamour on himself!” She shuddered at the memory; at first she thought she was marrying a red-haired, if not handsome man, then at least passable. When she had found him asleep, all transformative and appearance-altering spells gone, she had been shocked to see that he was actually a grotesque, reddish, human-size rat, lying there on his back with his long pointed nose in the air, whiskers shaking as he snored, and nasty looking tail in one furry, clawed, filthy hand, his penis in the other. And his father’s unaltered form was a revolting combination of man, boar, and bull. Both were utterly disgusting, and she had always secretly thought that Adrastia’s true form resembled a pig. “Ugh!”  
“You’re not stupid all the time,” Aura conceded, “Or about everything. You’re talented with magic but a complete idiot when it comes to managing humans, or anyone, for that matter.” The half-fey half-devils were certainly proof of that, she thought. They couldn’t do anything right, from shooting arrows to cleaning up after themselves.  
“I have no desire to manage humans. That was your dream, not mine.”  
“Fine then,” Aura smirked, “Other than thieving the magic mirror through time travel, what is your dream?”  
“I want a child.”  
“Why don’t you just snatch one, then? Those creatures are absolutely everywhere.”  
“Not just any kind of child!” Maleficent exclaimed, looking out the window. A bright little redbird suddenly landed in the sill, and she said, “A beautiful fairy princess with my magical powers and enchanted grace. Skin white as snow, lips red as the bird’s feathers, eyes of brilliant sky blue and magical, radiant golden hair that glitters in the sun or starlight.”  
“I see…” Aura laughed. “So seducing a random man, such as abducting a peasant, probably won’t work, either. You want the sort of magic the Baba Yaga gave Aurora.”  
“Yes, I do. Perhaps I should go see the witch.”  
“You could visit and bargain with the Old Wild Hag, if you choose, and hope she doesn’t decide to eat a fairy. Or you could ask me.”  
Maleficent smirked, “You never had such magic!” More of Aura’s trickery, she thought. Telling lies to get what she wanted and then pretending afterward that nothing had happened.  
“I married a god, Maleficent. I will soon be a goddess myself, with any more worshippers. My power comes from them, and so I have far more options than in the old days. When you’re powerful, you have options. If you stay at home in your tower feeling sorry for your pathetic self, you have fewer choices. And prayers for a child are quite common. Occasionally, I grant them.”  
The dark fairy regarded her sister suspiciously, “How?”  
“If they’re ugly, usually I just take their souls in trade. If they are attractive, I have a lot more fun, and indulge in one of my favorite pastimes.”  
“Which one?”  
Aura laughed merrily, “The obvious one, of course! Usually I make them think it was all a dream, their prayers answered by a walk and more with the Queen of Peace out on the Elysian Fields, in the Garden of Eternity. They’re pregnant when they awaken afterwards, but by then I’ve already had my fun.”  
“A dream?”  
“Not for you, Mallie,” she said, admiring the dark fairy’s cheeks and shoulder blades with her eyes and fingertips. “Or perhaps, you get your wish, and I get my dream.”  
“What exactly do you want?”  
Aura smiled slyly, “I get to have my way with you.”  
“I do not want to have another litter of monsters, Aura!”  
“No little devils, agreed. Nobody wants those! Then again, I’m not your ugly ex-husband so that’s not going to happen, now is it? You will get exactly what you wish for, so don’t visualize any leaping little demons. Why you even let those creatures live is inexplicable. You should have drowned them in the river like I told you to, especially since the Rat Prince wouldn’t claim them or give us any gold.”  
She sighed in answer, thinking that perhaps she should have drowned them, but at the last minute she had felt sorry for the helpless, newborn creatures. After all, she had borne them even if they were ugly, misshapen monsters who resembled their father and grandparents in miniature. “Speaking of which, you still owe me his head on a platter, stuffed with treasures.”  
“I do, don’t I? That will take a bit of work, however, so how about I give that to you as a welcoming gift for your little princess when she arrives? Nine months to a year should be about enough time to arrange an end for the Rat Prince of Hell.”  
Maleficent smiled, “How are you going to do it?”   
“I don’t know yet, but I will find a suitable way. Perhaps some earthly heroes will need to set out on a holy quest. But that is not what I want for tonight. This night is for me to enjoy you.”  
“Aura, I’m still quite sore from our earlier adventure.”  
“It has been quite a day, hasn’t it?” Aura laughed, aroused by the thought of more pain, and then she stared at the dark fairy coldly, like a snake eyeing a mouse, “But you already know that I need that edge,” she said, leaning forward and gently biting Maleficent’s lower lip. She nipped just enough to draw blood, and licked it up. “Well, do we have a deal?”  
“I have learned the hard way never to make deals with devils,” she answered slowly.  
“If I am a devil, Maleficent, so are you. The question I wanted an answer to is do you want to trade a night of pleasures with me for that special princess you want?”  
“Am I going to wake up in the Abyss, and discover that I’m trapped, or dead, or both?”  
Aura laughed, “No. I promise I won’t damage you any more than I normally do, and that you will be pregnant when you wake up tomorrow morning here in your tumbledown old tower, not dead.”  
“With the golden haired, beautiful princess? No monsters!”  
“Amazingly enough,” Aura laughed, “She will look like me!”  
“That is very beautiful on the outside,” the dark fairy pondered aloud, “But what about inside? I have noticed that a fairly solid core of evil runs through our family.”  
“What a coincidence! I’ve noticed that, too!” Aura laughed in mock amazement. “However, that is difficult to say. What realms of the spirit world are you most drawn to, and what type of wandering soul may be nearby, I do not know. Your etheric vibrations influence that more than anything else.”  
“What exactly are we going to do?”  
“A little sampler of my favorite pleasures. But like I said, I’m going to leave you pregnant, not dead, so don’t worry,” she laughed.   
Then Maleficent smiled, and said, “Are you truly serious? Or are you pulling a prank? Are you planning to tie me up and whip me all night long, and then in the morning laugh because the joke is on me? If so, count me out. Truthfully, I have yet to observe any godlike powers from you. Usually you make me do all the spell casting and work.”  
“As I have been trying to tell you, I married well, and I can channel a lot of other people’s power, for whatever purposes I see fit. I have you do the dull enchantments that are, as you have so aptly put it, work. I spend my time in far more enjoyable pursuits,” she said, untying the headdress and spiked collar.   
“I will never trust you again if I wake up tomorrow morning and regret this.”  
“You will not regret this,” Aura assured her, throwing the collar and accompanying headdress across the room. Of the two, she detested the collar more. “I promise you, that you will be very, very happy with how the spell turns out.”  
“And tonight?”  
“Is the price paid.”  
She sighed, “I suppose so.”  
“Is that a yes or a no?”  
“Yes.”  
“Excellent,” she purred, embracing the amazed dark fairy.  
“How long have you been able to do that?” she asked. Since she had been small, the only one who had that power was herself.  
“Ah, a night of debauchery and discovery for both of us,” Aura smiled, and kissed her, licking the remaining blood from her lip, and sucking on it. 

Far away, in the forest at the woodcutter’s old cottage, a dark fairy peeked in the windows, and saw a sadly familiar sight. A human baby, lying cold and listless in a cradle, hungry and lonely. She sighed, and felt sorry for the poor little thing. The pixies, who still had the audaciousness and temerity to call themselves ‘good fairies’ were fast asleep. Looking over at them, she shuddered involuntarily. They had aged horribly. Mature when lovely Queen Clecie had left little Maleficent in the Moors, now they were elderly. Gray hair was the most attractive part of them; their bodies had swollen up from the incessant snacking on sweets, and now they were enormous, bloated pixies. A moment of gruesome horror washed over her as she recalled that terrible “lesson,” they had thought they were “teaching,” her, where she had seen the terrifying images reflected by the boggarts. “Ugh!” she exclaimed involuntarily, and turned away from their sleeping forms.  
She picked up the chilled little baby, and held her closely, hoping to warm her up. The baby smiled, and Maleficent was tempted to simply walk away with the child, and raise the little princess herself. Then again, she thought, that might make matters worse. The pixies would return to the castle and claim the princess was stolen, and perhaps the king might even invade fairyland to reclaim her. Unless she killed the wretched creatures in their sleep, she thought. Then she might have as much as sixteen years of peace before the king and queen even suspected they were gone. It was a powerful temptation, and she blew a sleep spell upon them, to ensure they remained asleep while she thought about it and considered her options. First, however, she changed the poor baby’s overflowing diaper, and then leaving it beside the pixie’s heads, took the babe away with her into the woods. She sang a lullaby, and perched high in a tree in the darkness.   
“There is only one useful spell I ever learned from your predecessor Queen Aurora’s healing magic,” she told the infant princess, “And you are the lucky beneficiary of it.” Still singing, she nursed the baby in the darkness, and watched the fire go out in the woodcutter’s cottage below. She shook her head, still trying to decide whether or not to murder the traitorous pixies. She had promised Aurora and Snow White long ago that she would not, but how long was one obligated to keep an oath to the dead? Maleficent was intimately familiar with the curse that followed oathbreakers, and thought carefully all night long, while the baby nursed gratefully and then fell asleep, warm and content. While the baby slept, she gave the child her own gift; should the curse come to pass and her finger on the spindle prick, she should sleep briefly, and awaken that same day at midnight. “That should do it,” the elder dark fairy said softly, with a smile. An almost idiot-proof solution! And with the pixies around, that was very important. But surely, she thought, someone, like her parents, must love the little princess enough for their kiss to awaken her. Just before the sun rose, she returned the baby to her cradle, and flew away.


	48. Vicissitude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aura grants her twin sister's wish for a daughter with hair of gold, eyes of sky blue, and lips the color of the redbird's feathers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings!!!!!  
> Vicissitude is the skill of flesh crafting and alteration from the game of Vampire, the Masquerade. Used by the fiendish clan Tzimiesce, it is usually employed to disfigure and deform, like the gods who cursed mortals with horrifying appearances. The Tzimiesce also abduct humans and twist them together to form gigantic war ghouls of hideous proportions and powers.  
> This chapter is full of disturbing, incestuous lesbian sex and abuse. Sensitive readers can skip right over it to the next chapter where Mallie is pregnant.

Chapter 48  
Vicissitude

“What are you going to do?” the dark fairy asked, “Transform yourself into a man?”  
Aura laughed, and shook her head. “Transformation is a blunt instrument,” she giggled, “I’m going to do something far more precise and exquisite; flesh crafting.”  
“Vicissitude?” the dark fairy asked suspiciously. She had read about such skills, and dangerous spells meant to transform the caster into a double of someone else, but didn’t believe that anyone could ever possess them to a fine enough degree to sculpt a form from nothing. Such power was indeed reserved for the gods, and often evil ones, as the power was usually used to punish humanoid creatures with unspeakable deformities, or to curse enemies with monstrous appearances. Truly cruel deities and demons abducted other beings and flesh crafted them together, creating amalgamated ghouls of hideous proportions. Then again, perhaps it was no surprise Aura was learning such magic. “What are you proposing?”  
In answer, the blue eyed angel took her hand, and rubbed her forefinger along the top, creating deliciously delightful sensations, and then the fairy realized that she was tasting Aura’s hand through her own. “Taste buds,” she smiled, “They are very sensitive, only a few tiny ones are necessary, and no one would ever notice.”  
“Perhaps,” the fairy said, staring at the slight redness on the top of her hand. “But…”  
“Now,” Aura laughed, “Something like this, everyone would notice,” she said, writing her name in blood vessels, pulsating on the surface of Maleficent’s arm. The fairy gasped, at the sight and the freakish sensation, as Aura then kissed her wrist, and left a perfect copy of her own lips. “So do you believe me now?” the golden haired angel asked, her eyes sparkling with impish delight.  
“Almost,” the fairy answered, knitting her brows and wondering what other type of chicanery might duplicate the awesome talents of flesh crafting. “Please make those veins vanish.”  
“Fine,” Aura smiled, kissing her wrist, causing the lips and blood vessels to melt back into the fairy’s flesh. Then she grinned, and pulling on her bodice, let the glittering white gown fall away to reveal a body of curvy delights. She smiled as Maleficent stared, and watched as her sister comprehended the work she had done. The ‘good fairies’ gifts of beauty only included those areas of the body commonly visible during proper social interactions; Aura had perfected everything else, and she was luscious.  
“You used to be as thin as I was,” the dark fairy said, enjoying looking at the beautiful breasts, and finely molded hips.  
“I made this for myself,” Aura proudly declared, leaning forward and putting the fairy’s hand on her firm, perfectly formed white breasts.  
“That could be a useful talent,” Maleficent thought aloud, enjoying the soft sensations of squeezing gently and stroking.  
“More than useful,” Aura whispered to her, “Exquisitely delightful. I can create anything, be anything or anyone, and give you whatever you want.”  
“How long have you been able to do this?”  
“Every day I learn more,” she answered, pulling the dark fairy along with her as she walked. Lounging on Maleficent’s bed, she said, “Leave the robes behind, and let me show you something.”  
Wondering what she was going to see, the fairy removed her cloak, gown, and underlayers, wondering what curious things the angel had planned. “What else haven’t you told me about?” she asked with a slight smile, setting her clothing aside.  
“Come here,” Aura said, with an alluring, sidelong glance, “There’s so much.”  
The dark fairy paused, gowned in nothing but her long hair, which cloaked her to her knees in a wavy, dark veil which curled beautifully at the ends. “I cannot resist the opportunity to learn new magic,” she admitted.  
Aura laughed, “Then this shall be a treasured night indeed, for you,” she smiled sweetly.  
“So it would seem,” the fairy answered, approaching with a slight hesitancy.  
“Come here.”  
The fairy glided over, marveling at how her twin had managed to overtake her in any magical field whatsoever, and wondering what might become of it. This wasn’t the way it had ever been before; Maleficent always commanded the magic, and Aura the humans. She paused, they had been more equal once, long ago. They had moved from discovering each other to lovers, and then to the whims of the world. It had begun as such a sweet, secret love affair, and they had trothed their devotion to each other so many times, that the fairy had eventually come to assume that it would always be that way. Aura was her best friend, her lover, her soul mate, everything a person could ever be. She had trusted her absolutely, and it had never occurred to her to doubt Aura’s reciprocal love. So she had gone to the Abyss unquestioningly, and accepted the piercings of her body, the thin gold chains that were supposed to drape and decorate, until they had been revealed as entrapments and restraints. Now they were master and slave, it wasn’t the way it had once been. Betrayal was far worse than torture; that lesson had been burned into her soul. Aura had no soul, however lovely she might appear, whatever words might flow forth from her precious, ruby red lips. So she lingered, halted, and doubted.  
Aura lay there on her side, white wings with their silver gilt edges, ever so lovely by sun or moonlight, her body curvy and inviting. “You’re so beautiful when you’re timid,” Aura smiled. Then she held out her hand, and the fairy was instantly reminded of the passage of time. In so many ways, she felt their love throughout their lives. From friendship to ambition, Aura implied with her eyes, they were together, forever. Whatever may come, it was still the two of them, together, against all the rest of the world, and love was once again possible. Whatever had come before, that was all past, and what was to come would be far more beautiful. Timidity, a fairy trait that ran so strong through many of them, and dark fairies especially, yet held her back. Everyone wants a woman, she thought, and especially a fairy. To capture a dark fairy is every creature’s delight. Mostly, she thought, because they might do what they desire with them. They were meant to be dismantled and hurt; that was why they were always called wicked or evil. It justified everything and anything. Then she shook her head, and blew the dust away.  
“Are you still frozen in your deep thoughts?” Aura smiled. Then she ordered her gently, “Come here.”  
But something bothered her, a deep, disturbing notion. It was the lure, the capture. And why, she thought, did an evil creature like Aura pass forever without notice or detection, simply because she was beautiful? She didn’t speak, but she did briefly consider running away. Vanishing, teleporting so far away that Aura wouldn’t know where to begin to look. Creating something new, and alone, feeling alive and anonymous, perhaps even living disguised among humans. To live a quiet life, likely as not alone, crafted by hand and truth, not lies. But free from this servitude, from pain inflicted by the beautiful creature who was once her dearest friend, her love, her twin, but who was now her cruel master. She wavered, and then Aura began to sing.  
Not only her voice, but the crystals and stones reverberated with her. The fairy closed her eyes and smiled, setting aside her staff and feeling briefly young again, then spreading her arms out, and pushing up onto her toes. To dance, to Aura’s heavenly singing, as it was and had always been. She danced and twirled, and somehow, she ended up in the angel’s arms. Sweet lips were upon hers, and she felt more of the magic flow.  
“This is for you,” Aura said sweetly, holding her so gently and kindly that the dark fairy almost believed in the angelic goodness, and the notion that a creature of darkness such as herself might be welcome there in the beatific glow of the goddess’ forgiveness and love. Aura kissed her, and twinkles of ecstasy traveled through her.  
“I almost believed,” Maleficent broke off their kiss to laugh. “Now I know why the humans fall at your feet!”  
“Because they see a difference in the sacred and the profane,” Aura said softly, smiling, “And they see profanity everywhere. Especially in women,” she confided, her delicate forefinger caressing the fairy’s lips. “To separate the sensual from the loving, and to introduce the concepts of purity, sin and guilt. People put themselves in chains, and within a generation, they forget what freedom was. It is very difficult for slaves to contemplate an escape if they have never known freedom.”  
“I am in awe of your diabolical machinations.” So that was why the Queen of Peace advocated purity from her followers, and the notion of shame, especially that odd guilt that free women were supposed to feel about pleasure, made all the odder in the fairy’s mind by what Aura herself actually did. She had certainly noticed that all the old artwork depicting female sensuality and naked goddesses had been covered up, removed, or destroyed.  
“But you are no mere minion,” Aura told her, while gathering her up into her arms and wings. “You are my heart. Whatever I feel, it is what you feel, and then tell me. You are my sole love, my heart walking around outside of my body, loving me as I wish and want to love myself. With a form of your own, a mind, a body, my heart is encased safely away from me, that I might experience pleasure and admire beauty, but never feel pain. So I need you.” She then touched the fairy’s cheek, and released a glitter of delight into her. Her hands wandered down to the fairy’s breasts, and caused them to swell, taking on a shape that pleased Aura more. Maleficent’s flat-chested, slim frame had become more voluptuous, and the evil goddess had every intention of leaving her that way. It pleased her far more to view and feel the womanly curves. She smiled; the dark fairy was going to be quite surprised by all the changes that occurred.  
Maleficent stiffened a little in fear, and many things went through the fairy’s head, and the manipulation of her affection being the foremost. I’m in love, she thought, and Aura is only here because she’s bored. Then she was about to say so, when the nascent goddess grew weary of the fairy’s vacillations. Instead of more of the fairy’s shyness and hesitancy, she gave her a burst of ecstatic energy, and giggled. “Now, watch this,” she said, and caused horns, golden brown copies of the fairy’s own, to grow upon her own head. “Do you like them?”  
“I do,” Maleficent smiled, “But they certainly seem to betray the truth of your power and origins.”  
“That is why they are not permanent,” Aura said, “Just something fun for now.” She smiled into her sister’s golden-yellow eyes, and then kissed her, slipping her tongue lightly between her ruby lips. “I have always been jealous of your lips,” she confided, “Lips that shame the red, red rose,” she giggled and the fairy joined her mirth. Whatever they were doing, laughing at the pixies’ stupidity never, ever got old. “I like your lips enough to want them for myself,” Aura giggled, and changed her own seashell-pink mouth to match that of her sister, and then added, “Now guess what?”  
“The netherlips are going to match the upper,” she laughed, with a most undignified squeal, feeling with joyful awe how Aura was exploring her new netherlips with the fairy’s hand. Then the angel did something quite unusual, and the fairy felt something like a penis forming beneath her hand. “What are you doing?” she giggled. “Are you turning yourself into a man?”  
“Certainly no more than necessary,” Aura answered, laughing.  
“Oh!” the dark fairy smiled, feeling the unusual appendage forming under her hand. She was overcome with wonder at the precision and skill of Aura’s flesh crafting, and wondered exactly what was going to happen. “What are you…” she began, feeling the angel moving into position. “Magic or semen…”  
“Nothing so untrustworthy,” Aura assured her. “I’m going to put a piece of my flesh into your womb, and craft it into the child you want,” she paused, “And you’re going to like it a lot.”  
“I want to find out,” the fairy breathed, feeling the familiar shivers of ecstasy that Aura always twinkled through her body when she wanted to thrill her. The results of her own fairy gift, Maleficent smiled.  
“Do you love me?” Aura whispered in her ear, gently nudging the new body part against the fairy’s netherlips.  
“Oh yes,” Maleficent breathed, “Of course I do! I’ve always loved you!”  
“And you always will,” the angel answered, slipping her new, temporary appendage into the fairy’s opening, and delighting in her trembles of pleasure and cries of ecstasy. But she had to concentrate on the magic in order to accomplish the task at hand, which made the fairy’s wild thrashing and noisy breathing more of a distraction than a source of inspiration. But, she reminded herself, this was for her sister, her fun would come after. Maleficent was kissing her and moaning softly, her arms around her, inquisitive fingertips and toes exploring the feathers on her white wings, as she so loved doing. It was a distraction, and her rocking motions were making it nearly impossible to locate the opening to the womb, which she had to find in order to dilate it enough to slip a piece of flesh inside. Feeling a little frustrated, and worried that this was going to take all night, cutting into her own enjoyment, she said, “Hold still for a moment!”  
“Oh, Aura! Ohh…”  
“Pull on my wings if you want, but just hold your hips still!”  
“Oh, yes…” the fairy sighed, squeezing her tightly, and looking lovelier every moment. Aura was briefly distracted by the results of her own long ago fairy blessing, and admiring her anew, congratulated herself on her own brilliance. If Maleficent had looked like this all the time, others would have sought after her. By making this a very private event, she had successfully kept her all to herself for the duration of their lives, and ensured that the fairy’s devotion was exclusively for her. Just the way she had planned it, Aura thought with a smile, as she listened to Maleficent’s ecstatic cries and climbed the mounting pleasure waves towards her peak.  
“You’re mine,” Aura smiled, “And you always will be.” The fairy was moaning her agreement, and Aura took the opportunity to grab her hips and pin her to the bed. Now, that she finally had her still enough to do what she had planned, she concentrated on the flesh crafting. A little tickle to open the cervix, and waves of pleasure to cover any pain, this should only take a moment, she thought.  
“Aura, slide it farther in and hold me!” the dark fairy exclaimed, breathing and moaning, squirming to close the distance between them again.  
“Just enjoy this,” the angel answered, balancing her spells and magic, alternating between orgasmic touch and flesh crafting was taking all of her concentration and power. When the opening to the womb had relaxed enough to permit a tiny snake of flesh to squiggle up, she sighed in relief. There was a painful sting as she separated a fingertip amount of her own flesh and willed it into independent existence. Finally, she grumbled to herself. But Maleficent wasn’t finished, despite all the rushes of pleasure she had already received, and was grasping onto her again, rocking her hips again and sighing. She’ll do this all night long, Aura thought, and said, “I’m done, the magic worked.”  
“Oh yes,” the lovely dark fairy purred, trembling, clasping the angel back to and inside of her. “This is wonderful magic indeed!” she agreed.  
Aura looked down at her, eyes closed and still in her continued, pre-orgasmic state. She had become too used to the angel’s touch, Aura sighed. She would just keep absorbing power and hold herself on the verge all night long. “Maleficent,” she informed her, “Peak!”  
“I want to keep going… it feels so wonderful…” she purred, the vibration enhancing her pleasure in a unique way.  
“I’m done,” Aura said, “And you need to finish, too.” The dark fairy only purred and moaned, squeezing tightly around the new appendage, and so Aura gave her an immense burst of magical, orgasmic energy, wanting to hurry her along.  
The fairy’s eyes flew open in wild surprise, and then she closed them and relaxed, finally peaking along with the force of the spell. With a last, long moan, she flopped her arms off to the sides, and opened her eyes. She smiled up at Aura, and said, “That was fantastic! Let’s do that again!”  
“No, Maleficent,” the angel said, “It’s my turn now, remember?”  
“That was wonderful and exquisite,” the dark fairy purred, wrapping her legs around Aura’s hips, and her toes tickled the white feathers. “I can still feel it,” she said dreamily, “Like part of my climax was pulled up and retained inside my womb. It’s magical,” she smiled.  
“That means you’re done,” Aura said, “And it’s my turn. Now we’re going to do what I want.”  
“I would really love to do that again,” Maleficent said softly, holding the angel close and kissing her. “Please?”  
“Maybe someday, if you want another baby,” Aura said, pushing herself up and out of Maleficent’s grip.  
“But Aura…”  
“Remember how wonderful I made you feel,” Aura told her, pulling her dress back down, securing the ties and buttons in their proper places until it dragged the floor in her customary angelic fashion, “How magically divine it is to experience waves of pleasure like that. I want to feel like that, too.”  
The dark fairy propped herself up on an elbow and said, “But that was beautiful. We don’t have to make another baby, we can just enjoy it.”  
“No, that was work,” Aura answered. “You have what you wanted, now we do what I want.”  
Maleficent looked disappointed, and asked, “You didn’t like that at all?”  
“It is not that I didn’t like it, so much as I was trying to cast several spells at once and you weren’t exactly making it simple. Besides, there are uses for vicissitude that I would much rather indulge in.”  
“Why?”  
“What do you mean, why?”  
“Why? Flesh crafting is a powerful tool, why is it that no one seems to use it for anything other than evil applications? When so clearly, there are beautiful, magical gifts and delights…”  
“Oh, no!” Aura interrupted her. “I do not want to have that discussion with you now. You’re going to try to waste as much of my pleasure time as possible indulging in needless thought experiments and long-winded mental dreamscapes. I’m not interested in that. We made a deal, and if you try to avoid paying me, I will simply take back the gift. No more talking, Mallie. Either we go down to the dungeon now, or our deal is void.”  
With a sigh, the dark fairy stood up and threw a black robe over herself, just in case the half-devils or Mother should chance to observe them. Seldom had she felt so uninterested in being with Aura as she did at that moment. Her prior excitement had faded away entirely, revulsion was already setting in, and they weren’t even in the dungeon yet. “I’m going,” she said reluctantly, “But just tell me why it is that you take such pleasure in tormenting others. Why?”  
“For a sorceress who prides herself upon being so brilliant, you certainly haven’t managed to figure out the basics of your own existence, have you?”  
“What has that to do with your sadistic nature?”  
Aura seized her wrist and smiled, “Everything, Mallie, it has everything to do with my nature.”  
“I do not exist simply as something for you to play with and torment!” she responded, pulling back.  
“Oh, yes you do,” Aura smiled wickedly. “I saw to that a long time ago.”  
“Aura, you’ve gone mad with power.”  
“Whatever you like to think,” Aura laughed, “But no one else thinks that, now do they? Not at all, in fact they think I am a shining ray of undimmed goodness, while everyone else looks at you as an evil, wicked witch.”  
“That is not funny at all,” the fairy answered, looking back over her shoulder at Aura’s cruel but beautiful smile, “And you are taking perverse pleasure in it.”  
“I enjoy perverse and perverted pleasures,” she answered, “The more twisted and unusual the better. And you are my absolute favorite plaything, you always have been, because I know you love me.”  
“Do you love me?”  
“I think we both know the real answer to that,” Aura smiled sweetly, but Maleficent wasn’t so sure any longer. Was the truth that she did or she didn’t?


	49. Rapunzel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent gives birth to a beautiful, golden-haired fairy baby. The twin sisters have a fight, and Aura abandons Maleficent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!!!!  
> Aura is very evil, and enjoys hurting and humiliating her sister during the birth, ruining what should have been a beautiful moment with perversion and cruelty.

Chapter 49  
Rapunzel

Maleficent noticed her daughter looking healthier and acting much happier. She didn’t hide in her fortress, glaring at the walls, but was back out in the forest, her skin turning light, leafy green again, and quite a vivid shade. She was still very quiet, and had a tendency to stare at nothing, but such strange moments were noticeably fewer, and less startling. One unusually warm late spring day, the elder dark fairy noticed a bump under the younger fairy’s light black and lavender gown, and asked, “Are you pregnant?”  
“Yes,” she admitted, somewhat shyly.  
“For how long?” the elder fairy asked in amazement.  
“About six months,” she admitted.  
“But how?”  
“I recall asking you that question a very long time ago.”  
“But somehow I doubt that the Yaga’s magic has anything to do with this,” the elder dark fairy guessed correctly. “Who is the baby’s father?”  
“I did something different.”  
“What?” the elder dark fairy asked, sounding very worried. “What? What did you do, Mallie?”   
The younger sorceress laughed, and then said, “Magic, Mother. Magic.”  
“But…”  
“Please just be happy for me and don’t ask any more questions.”  
“But there are so many questions…” Indeed there were. She wasn’t even sure where to begin.  
“And you won’t like the answers to any of them, so we will both be much happier if you simply don’t ask those questions to begin with.”  
“I’m visualizing any number of bad scenarios,” the elder dark fairy worried, “Maybe you should simply tell me. Does this have anything to do with selling favors to a devil?”  
“Not really.” Noticing that her mother was going to ask more questions, she said, “Just don’t ask.”  
“But, dear…”  
“Just be happy for me, and ask no more questions. It’s a new form of magic, and that is all I will tell you.”   
Sighing, the older fairy agreed, keeping her questions to herself. The next several months passed uneventfully, as the elder dark fairy continued to harbor her own silent doubts. Though her curiosity burned, clearly, the young sorceress wasn’t going to tell her who the father of her baby was, and so she finally stopped asking, and decided to enjoy what time they had. Late spring bloomed into summer, and should have faded into autumn, but didn’t. Instead rain poured down for several weeks, while the two dark fairies retreated into their old tower, and the surrounding countryside flooded. Then the sun’s warmth returned, the flowers of early spring burst forth again, and the creatures of the forest began their mating dance all over again, while the days continued to grow shorter.   
“Strange,” the elder dark fairy mused, as she looked around at the altered seasons.   
“She will walk in springtime wherever she goes,” the very pregnant and uncomfortable sorceress sighed, “More pixie asininities.”   
“This could be dangerous,” the elder fairy pondered. “The life cycle of the forest has been disrupted, as has the migration of birds and fishes. This isn’t natural.”  
“Something about one of the predictable constants of our world being pixie foolishness?”  
“I noticed that many of the animals have lost their litters, or abandoned their nestlings in confusion, because they have entered into another springtime heat without finishing raising the first litter. However, I’m even more worried about you, dear. You should have given birth by now.”  
“Thank you for reminding me, Mother. I think I’ve been pregnant for a year, now,” she sighed, shifting around in her chair.   
“That’s not natural, either, and I suspect the life cycles of all creatures have been affected. I could make you another potion… How I wish Aurora was here! She had the healing arts, all I can do is patch things up with plants!”  
The pregnant fairy sighed, “If you make it, I’ll drink it.” She felt enormous, awkward, and longed to have her body back all to herself. Two little feet continuously rested themselves on what felt like her lowest ribs, and kicked her at odd moments in places she had never imagined being struck. Uncomfortable and chronically short of breath, with her back hurting most of the time, she wondered when her baby would finally be born.   
“I will return soon, dear,” she said, and flew off towards the forest, which both bloomed and fruited, unsure of what season it was and what to do with itself. It seemed everything was perpetually blooming, the trees and flowering plants wearing themselves out with effort, and the animals confused. She watched a perplexed squirrel try to stuff ever more acorns into the hollow of a tree, waiting for a winter that kept not coming. She picked the herbs she needed, wondering what, if anything, she should do about the altered seasons. Looking up, she saw a golden chariot in the air, pulled by enormous white swans. She sighed, a visit from Aura was unlikely to improve matters.  
Landing in the courtyard of the tower, the Queen of Peace stepped out of her golden chariot, a crystalline light around her. She motioned to the driver, who set about caring for the giant swans, who were lovely but ill-tempered creatures. They had to be constantly charmed and ensorcelled to be calm and not squawk and peck at each other.  
“Hello, dearest sister!” Aura laughed merrily, flying up to the fairy’s mostly empty throne room, and inviting herself in. “You look beautiful, if perhaps uncomfortable.”  
“That is one way of describing it,” the fairy said, standing up and feeling ungainly and awkward, especially compared to her graceful, slender sister. “I’ve been pregnant for almost a year! What manner of spell have you cast upon me? When does this end?”  
“A year and a day, of course!” Aura laughed, and tried to put her arms around her, and having difficulty in doing so. “Have you missed me? Oh, you are quite pregnant, aren’t you?”  
“So another few days?” the fairy asked, “Is that why you have returned? Or do I owe this royal to visit to some other errand?”  
“I came here to be with you when the baby is born,” she smiled radiantly.   
“I must say, you weren’t much help last time,” Maleficent remembered. “I want Mother with me during the birth, and no one else.”  
“The she-devil ruined everything,” Aura smiled, admiring the fairy’s swollen middle. “You shall see, this will be much different. No devils, no monsters…”  
“And no restraints?” the fairy snapped.  
“Kicking the she-devil in the face was a poor choice,” Aura said soothingly.   
“You promised her the child, didn’t you?” Maleficent said, “And you didn’t want me able to fight or teleport. So you put those iron-studded leather cuffs on me and tied me down. I haven’t forgotten that, Aura.” She remembered quite well the agonizing birth following her second pregnancy. Aura and Adrastia smoked a heavy, dark resin in bronze, bejeweled pipes and chatted. They told her it would make her birth go faster, and had offered her some, but it made her feel nauseated instead of better. So she had lain down on her bed and closed her eyes, trying to think about other things, but the waves of cramping pain started coming faster and harder. At first she grit her teeth, then she whimpered, and finally she screamed. It was nothing like the short-lived and mild discomfort that had accompanied her miscarriage when she was younger. Mummy Aurora’s presence had also made a tremendous difference. Many times Maleficent had heard the stories of the magical births of her sisters, and was hoping for something similar, even if her first such experience was with death and not life. Mummy had told her that she would have more children someday, and her true love would be there to hold her hand, and other such gentle reassurances. But Mallie had felt mostly depression, more so than physical pain. That had been a sadness based in loss, whereas the gloom that permeated her during her second pregnancy had been from a much different form of despair. Her time in the Abyss had destroyed her belief in the power of love and any form of goodness. Innocence was gone forever, and until she had lost it, she hadn’t appreciated how beautiful it was. Then she had another dreadful experience in store; the pregnancy resulting from the hideous experiences that had traumatized her so. She didn’t want to give birth to the future Prince of Hell, she wanted to be as far away from it as possible, and to forget it forever. But Aura had promised her the world; gold, power, lands, armies, and more, if she bore and controlled the young Prince. When material goods hadn’t swayed her, begging and an oath of love had. So she trusted her twin, and went through the entire pregnancy for Aura’s sake, for her ambitions, hiding it all the while under her dark robes, and refusing to leave her lonely fortress. Hiding her condition from Mother became especially difficult, as the elder dark fairy visited frequently, and constantly wanted to hug her. Pushing her away had been an unpleasant necessity that she later regretted, especially when the time of birth drew near. Nothing like Mummy Aurora’s blissful melding with the universe, physical pain had been just the start. As she lay there, feeling the intense gripping agony and listened to the she-devil and her own twin sister make great plans for the anticipated new Prince, she fought the desires to both scream and run far, far away. However, her crying irritated them and interrupted their discussion. Feeling lonely and betrayed, she decided to go find Mother and tell her the truth. They quickly realized why she was reaching for her staff, and annoyed with her already, found it easier to simply restrain her with the iron cuffs than to comfort or reason with her.  
Aura made a shocked noise, then giggled and held her hand. “That’s a dreadful accusation! Even if she did plan to steal the baby, we could have just stolen it back. Anyway, we can’t give those little devils of yours away, so what difference does it make?”  
The dark fairy looked at her with a mixture of incredulity and horror. “Are you embarrassed of your behavior, or do you just want to pretend I don’t know?”  
Aura stiffened up, and her demeanor changed instantly. “What do you want?”  
“The truth. Why are you here? You see everyone as tools and playthings for you to use and control. Instead of lying about it, why don’t you just tell me what you want?” Suddenly a great fog lifted from her eyes, and seeing through her twin’s manipulations to the black mind that lay beneath, twisting and writhing with ancient hatred and desperate for power at any price, she suddenly wondered why she had never perceived it before, and most of all, why she had agreed to be her plaything and puppet for so long. Aura wasn’t just evil, she had no soul. What she had said before about her twin being her heart who walked around separately, made sudden, chilling sense.   
Eyes blazing blood red at the insubordination, Aura stepped back haughtily, “I came here to this dismal old fortress to see and talk to you! Maybe I should just assume that you’re nasty and rude because you’re uncomfortable.” The dark fairy gave her an angry sideways glance, heavily tinged with horror, and then Aura perceived that her disguise had been pierced. Breathing deeply, the blood in her eyes faded away, and she tossed her blond ringlets to the side, and with a sweet, childlike voice, she laughed. “Besides, don’t you want me to give a gift to our new, sweet little fairy princess? I’m curious how this turns out as well, you know.”  
Maleficent’s heart was thumping wildly as she gazed at the dragon and said, “I suppose I should take some comfort in the fact that you’re willing to stand near me afterwards. But there is no “our,” the child is mine. I paid you in blood and pain for a beautiful, little golden-haired princess with eyes of sky blue, lips like the redbird’s feathers, and skin white as snow. If I give birth to a monster, or you bestow any curses in the form of blessings, or attempt to steal my child, I will kill you.”  
“Well, that’s nice!” Aura exclaimed in mock outrage.  
“Nice has long since departed from the situation. You told me once before that I was going to give birth to a prince, and instead I was left alone with forty-two unwanted half-devils. When your power play failed, you abandoned me, and it is what happens whenever I need help.”  
“I didn’t come all the way here to be insulted, Maleficent.” Then her tone changed yet again, and she put her arms around the fairy’s shoulders, and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t want it to be this way between us.” She touched her twin on the arms, and then the fingers and wrists; casting her charm spell. Clasping their hands together, she said, “Forgive me, beloved. I’m evil, but that’s my nature. It’s your nature, too, and if the sweet little baby is virtuous, then it’s going to be a terrible strain on both of us. I suspect she will be more neutral, like one of the wizards. Wise, and quiet, like you, but golden haired and enchanting, like me. Can you imagine what it would be like if the child was of heroic temperament? How simply dreadful!” Aura paused and laughed, while Maleficent looked at her with a thoughtful, yet less than appreciative glance, and then suddenly burst into laughter with her. That was a silly thought! It was far more likely, and indeed, preferable, that their child be perfectly lovely and absolutely evil. Of course, they laughed merrily together, evil was quite guaranteed! “You are beautiful,” Aura purred, “But not in a way that makes people kneel in fealty. You are beautiful in the wild way, where superior knowledge and hearing are a good thing, and sometimes, the only thing that matters; the difference between survival and death. I’m the decoration, while you are real…”  
Maleficent shook her head, “I could almost believe your lies, had I never experienced the results. What you say is the truth, why you say it is convoluted and twisted…  
“But I love you,” Aura said. “You, alone amongst all the others, you I do feel something for.” She took her twin’s hands in her own and looking her in the eyes said, “In all other things, I feel nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all! Only you are real to me, alive! All the others are like paper wind chimes. And I want to feel, to feel something; desperately, I want to feel something!”  
“Neither one of us can help but be what we are, but I think perhaps that I pity you more. I feel the most when I am alone, and the forest speaks to me. The wind in the grass is a person, and the wail of the winter breezes my close friend. I don’t need anything else, but you do. You need other people to be around you. That’s not a bad thing, but it is a great vulnerability. To live alone in the world, and to neither need nor regret the absence of others is to know peace. To live alone and to feel the burning of absence is to be in agony. As always, I will help you, and love you, but I cannot ever trust you.”  
Aura stood there in shock, and then sputtered, “But the child is ours! My magic made this all come about! Only divine intervention can alter the basic patterns!”  
“I am not arguing that. We are proving the rule, not altering it.”  
Aura scowled, and then shook her head. “Why do you do that? No one else but wizards enjoy speaking in riddles like that!”  
“Perhaps. Do you have a heart or a soul?”  
“I told you before, you are my heart and soul, with another body.”  
Uncomfortable and easily tired, Maleficent kept Aura aside, and did not engage her further, feeling deeply disturbed by what Aura had said, and what she had seen. The disguise had fallen off for a brief moment, and a monster had been revealed. Maleficent was wary yet, and having seen the dragon’s gaze, wanted to avoid her. This frustrated Aura to no end, and she dogged her twin sister’s every step, seeming desperate for her attention. “Did you have any plans to go home?” Maleficent finally asked.  
“I am home,” Aura answered sweetly, taking her hands, and about to begin singing. “Home is where the heart is…”  
“Just splendid,” the dark fairy sighed, grateful that Mother had finally returned with the promised potion. She was also relieved that now Aura had someone else to bother, as she picked up one of Queen Clecie’s old books on fashion. Maleficent had never been interested in them before, but this one contained pictures of baby clothes, and although she didn’t need to sew, she could create items by magic, and she was finding inspiration in the colors and designs. It was going to be delightful fun to dress and adorn her new fairy baby in a variety of flowery gowns, ribbons, and lacy blankets.  
The young dark fairy was quietly reading when she started to feel undeniable twinges of pain. Usually, she worked through unpleasant sensations, but this was demanding. Putting her books and scrolls aside, and blowing out the candles in her study, she retreated to her bed, where she lay there and tried to sleep. Aura had already fallen asleep from boredom at watching her read. Perhaps, she thought, it was finally going to happen, the baby was going to be born. It had to occur sometime, didn’t it? She lay there in the darkness, and wondered at the intensity of the gripping sensations that came over her. As the night passed, she contemplated what it would be like to be alone forever, and never speak again. It would be much as she felt now, her pain unknown to anyone else. It was as it had ever been, she thought.   
The bright, unseasonable light of day bespoke otherwise, however. As night gave way to early morning, and another strange, spring-like day dawned, she threw off her blankets. Ravens were shrieking and cawing at each other outside her window, new mated pairs trying to evict old couples from prime nesting locations, and Diablo was telling them to be quiet; his mistress was trying to sleep. She sat up, and sipping some leftover lemongrass tea from a cup, she thought carefully about what to do. As she well knew, Aura was there for the voyeuristic thrill of watching her give birth, to profane the sacred, not to be helpful in any way. She might even have plans to steal the child. So far, there had been no sign of her accomplice, the red-haired she-devil, so she decided to leave Aura asleep, and silently teleport to wherever Mother was. Taking her staff, she saw the older dark fairy busily inspecting saplings. She angled the crystal, and realizing where in the forest she was, vanished from her bedroom, only to reappear beside a grove of spindly baby trees that the elder fairy was fussing over.   
“They don’t look dead,” the young sorceress commented, startling the elder.  
“Oh!” she exclaimed, standing up in surprise. “Is there no convenient way to warn me of your imminent arrival?” It is just as well that I am no longer mated to a desirous human, the elder fairy thought, these sudden appearances could startle all involved.  
“I have sought you out because of my baby’s imminent arrival,” was the answer.  
“Wonderful,” the elder fairy smiled, “I had hoped it would eventually happen.”  
Raising an eyebrow she asked, “There was a chance it might not?”  
“Of course not, dear,” was the answer, “I’m just being silly; too much talking with baby ash and willow trees. Would you like me to make you anything?”  
“A sedative tea would be nice, as would the continued absence of Aura.”  
“I see. Is she still here?”  
“I slipped away from her oversight. With any luck, she will sleep through most of the morning, and part of the afternoon. I have my suspicions about why she is here. Do not leave her alone with the baby!”  
“Do you think she wants to steal it?”  
“Quite possibly. Why else would she be lingering here so long without having asked us for something or assigning a chore?”  
“Why indeed?” the elder fairy agreed. “I will not leave her alone with the baby.”  
“Good.”  
“If I may make a suggestion, we should take a walk. That does speed up labor.”  
“Fine, but first I would like some tea.”  
The elder dark fairy was surprised at how fast the labor progressed, until her daughter confessed that she had in fact lain awake most of the night thinking about it. She sighed, wondering why Mallie was so secretive about everything. Then, putting her arms around the younger sorceress, she helped her sit down under a shady tree. It was only mid-morning, but would likely be an extremely warm spring day; verging on the dry heat of summer. She took the younger Maleficent’s hand and smiled, “At least you won’t be pregnant through any more of this heat.”  
“It makes me wonder if the stupid pixies know the difference between the seasons,” she sighed. “We have an absence of autumn and winter, but the curse,” she gasped, gritting her teeth through a particularly sharp pain, “Excuse me, blessing,” she breathed, “Was specifically for springtime.”  
“Early spring is lovely and romantic, but not at all fruitful. Perhaps their magic is not strong enough to freeze all plant life into the budding process, and animals into perpetual mating.”  
“They are idiots,” the laboring fairy grumbled, “Who should have been disposed of long ago…”  
“There you are!” came a cheery voice. “Why didn’t you wake me up before you left?”  
“I thought to let you sleep,” was the vague answer.  
Undaunted by the unhappy expressions around her, Aura chirped and sang happily with the birds, and both dark fairies enjoyed the lovely sound, despite themselves. She was trilling beautifully with several songbirds while the wind provided a soft instrumental accompaniment, when she heard some odd, throaty notes. Turning around, she saw Mother kneeling and holding Mallie, who was crouched there in a most ungraceful way, and clearly the source of the grunting. Knees akimbo, and with her green skin, long toes, and large pregnant belly, she was quite a sight. Aura laughed, “Mother, it looks like you’re hugging a giant horned frog that’s trying to poop!”  
“Go away!” Mother snapped, and moved a wing in front of them.  
Aura sighed in exasperation, but didn’t leave. Instead she observed the goings-on with interest, and Mallie, apparently ashamed at resembling a frog, decided to just lie down on the forest floor. Due to the eternal spring, there were flower blossoms falling, and they made a pleasant bed of fragrant petals. Aura moved around the obstacle created by prudish old Mother’s wing, and intently watched the baby being born. She noticed the surprised look on Mother’s face as she beheld the very special wedding ring, but was disappointed that she didn’t mention it. Little horn nubs were immediately visible, but no wings, which dismayed Aura. Why hadn’t Mallie thought to imagine wings? She was supposed to visualize what she wanted in a child, and that should have been wings, not horns! Was it really necessary to have explained all of that to her sister? Apparently it was, she thought. Then she was rather surprised to see the incredibly long hair on the baby. Her hair was a gleaming, golden-yellow that already reached well past her shoulders, which once out, the rest of the fairy baby quickly followed.  
“She’s beautiful!” Aura exclaimed. “She looks like me!” Sparing a glance aside, she saw the doleful gaze of their mother, and the stunned expression of her twin, who had just given birth to the radiant goddess. “Look at her hair!”  
Before Aura could reach over, the elder dark fairy picked up the newborn gently, and feeling that magic was quite appropriate in this situation, gave her the fairy garb suitable to such a lovely little baby, complete with flower blossom blanket. All the newborn mess, solids and fluids, vanished. Then she smiled, “A truly excellent use for magic,” and handed the baby to Mallie, who sat up and was quite pleased to see her beautiful new baby. They gazed upon the child, and then she added, “What lovely, long hair!”  
“I will name her Rapunzel,” the baby’s admiring mother said. She smiled, her newborn had long golden hair, eyes of sky blue, and lips red as the little songbird’s feathers. Her skin would probably become white as snow, but for now she was still a bit pink from being born. Nonetheless, Maleficent was delighted. Nothing like the half-devils, Rapunzel was lovely.  
“Why not?” Aura observed. “She’ll have extremely long blond hair and live locked up in a dark scary tower with her insane mother. At least until she can find a way to escape. Sounds quite fitting to me.”  
“You are not nearly as helpful as you apparently think you are,” the elder dark fairy observed.   
“So when do we get to the fairy blessings part?” Aura asked, undeterred. “That’s the real fun.”  
“During the naming ceremony,” she answered.  
“But she’s already got a name,” Aura continued to argue.  
“Will you please let your sister rest?”  
“Fine, fine,” Aura agreed, giving her twin a parting glance when Mother wasn’t looking. They would talk later, without supervision. She noticed the worried look that crossed over the younger dark fairy’s face, and then she turned, to resume singing with the birds. “Every fairy princess baby needs a magical chorus,” she giggled sweetly as the music began.  
Returning her gaze to her newborn, the young dark fairy admired the perfect features and long ringlets on her baby. But it was difficult to put Aura’s vague threat out of her mind. They would talk later, of that she had no doubt.  
Choosing her own time, she entrusted the baby’s safety to the elder dark fairy, and confronted Aura alone in the tower. “Why did you do that?”  
“Do what? Provide the chorus of birds or even give you such a wonderful present to begin with? Why didn’t you give her wings, you idiot? Horns, but no wings? What were you thinking?”  
“You called me a frog!”  
“You did look like a frog,” Aura laughed, “With your green skin, very odd long fingers and toes, and the way you were crouched down there grunting! Haha! It looked exactly like Mother was hugging an enormous, horned, yellow-eyed toad…” She was interrupted by a slap.  
“You tried to ruin everything!”  
“How dare you slap me?”  
“You hit me all the time!”  
“It only goes one way,” Aura informed her. “I decide what we do, when, and how. You are fortunate and graced to even be permitted in my presence. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a goddess, and you’re the ugly, reclusive sorceress who hides alone in her tower screaming at the walls and her little devils. Don’t make me regret giving you such a precious, wonderful present. I can take it away just as easily.”  
“I already paid for it,” Maleficent pointed out. She had kept her end of their bargain. The dark fairy paused. Aura killed remorselessly, but surely, she wouldn’t hurt their child?  
Aura noticed the hesitancy, and acted upon it. This could work quite well to her advantage. Now she had something she could always threaten to take away. Easier and less trouble than convincing or the giving of gifts, was the wielding of threats. Now she would forever have something she could hold over Mallie, and that made her control even tighter than it had been before. “I really enjoyed seeing that,” she smiled. “I think I would really enjoy watching it again. Lips that shame the red, red rose,” Aura giggled, holding Maleficent’s hand, expecting her sister to fall back into their accustomed habits, and play along as she pulled layers of black silk aside. Watching those rose petals spread apart and something emerge thrilled Aura with a rare and unusual voyeuristic pleasure. She had been fascinated watching the little devils spill out, all slimy, dark wet fur and bloody fluids, but the fairy baby opened the birth canal wider, and afforded a much better view. This birth had been better than the last one, although the restraints excited her more than Mother’s nagging and supervision. Next time, she thought, no Mother. Her fingers glanced and grazed upon the lips between the fairy’s legs, but Maleficent gasped, recoiling in horror. “But the next time, I’m choosing everything about the child. Your ineptitude is so incredibly vast that you didn’t even think to give her wings, but cursed her with horns? What were you thinking?”  
“I knew you would profane something beautiful with your sickness,” she said, “That’s why I didn’t want you there. I left you asleep in the tower for a reason.”  
“What?” the angel demanded, her eyes starting to glow with a disturbing redness.   
“There is something very, very wrong with you,” she ventured. “A deep, twisted and perverted evil that seems to know no bounds…”  
“You seem to be bound up in quite a bit of that evil,” she answered, squeezing the fairy’s hand until it hurt. “You have been there with me from the very beginning of my adventures in perversion, so don’t pretend that you don’t like it, or weren’t a willing participant. You’re evil, too, Maleficent. Don’t think for a moment that you’re not, or that if anyone ever knew the extent of your wickedness that they would ever see you as anything but a monster. Even Mother and your new baby would think you a fiend if they ever suspected the full extent of your deeds.”  
“You need to leave.”  
“You can’t throw me out.”  
“I’m not throwing you out, I am asking you to leave.”  
“Fine then,” Aura told her dark fairy sister, “You will regret this! Sit all alone in your dark, cold fortress. Enjoy your ugly old bird and pitiful, pathetic litter of stupid half-devils! Quickly enough, you’ll notice that the only bright spot in your miserable life is what I’ve given you! Nor will I return until you beg me! You’re a disgrace to yourself and the forces of evil!”  
“I am not, and stop calling me that! Just because the she-devil said it, doesn’t mean you need to endlessly repeat it!”  
“It’s true,” she said, with a heavy tone of disgust.   
“Leave me alone! Leave, and do not return!” She took her staff, and was about to cast a binding spell, when Aura agreed.  
“Fine,” the angel said. “Alone you will be! I will leave, and I won’t return, until you are on your hands and knees, begging me to let you back into the light of my glorious presence. It won’t take long, either,” she laughed.   
“Never!”  
Aura laughed loudly, “I give it all of a week. I might have time to choose some new outfits and servants before I must return here and rescue you from your own madness and loneliness.”  
“Never!”  
With a peal of lovely but insulting, mocking laughter, she teleported away, and the dark fairy stood there in surprise. She hadn’t known that Aura knew how to teleport. Maybe, she thought, the young goddess’ power was increasing, as she gained worshippers. “Well,” Maleficent said, “She has just lost one.”


	50. The Fairy Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Upon discovering that Maleficent had a baby, King Stefan asks the Three Good Fairies to bring the child to him, and deliver a note to the dark fairy, demanding that she remove the curse from Aurora if she wants her infant back. Unfortunately, the pixies bungle the job badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!!!  
> Infanticide. Briar Rose doesn't injure the fairy baby Rapunzel on purpose, she's an unsupervised child who doesn't know any better, but Maleficent vows vengeance upon her. This is why we see her so insanely angry at young Briar Rose.

Chapter 50  
The Fairy Baby

“She what?” King Stefan asked the pixies in amazement.  
“Yes, the entire forest is buzzing with the news,” Fauna exclaimed, “A new little fairy princess! Maleficent had a baby, at least that’s what I heard.”  
“Have you seen this creature?” Stefan asked, and the queen put down her sewing and looked interested.  
“We can’t go anywhere near the Forbidden Mountain,” Flora shuddered, just imagining how much the wicked elder Maleficent would like to corner three innocent Good Fairies and murder them, as she had often threatened, long ago, “But all the birds and fairies are talking about it.”  
“I say, Stefan,” Hubert interjected, “Here’s your chance to send back a little of the joy she’s brought to you. Curse that wicked witch’s child, and settle the score!”  
“Yes,” Stefan said to the pixies, “Give her little daughter a present like she gave us!”  
“We can’t do that…” Fauna began.  
“Why the blazes not?” Hubert snapped, “What are you good for, then?”  
“Because we’re Good Fairies,” Flora answered. “We can only use our magic for good, and to bring joy and happiness.”  
“Then steal the baby,” Hubert exclaimed, “Steal it, bring it here, and we’ll have a prisoner exchange! If she refuses, we kill the little creature and send our troops in to destroy the whole stinking place…”  
“Hubert!” Queen Leah exclaimed in horror, “We will not kill any children!”  
“What?” he retorted, “Why the hell not? If we can’t use black magic we’ll use the sword! Besides, it’s not like they’re even human! They’re horned beasts, evil monsters…”  
“Even if they are evil fairies,” Leah said. “We will not do any such thing!”  
“Bahh!” Hubert exclaimed, “See, Stefan! This is what happens when women become involved in making decisions…”  
“Now, let’s try to think of something,” Stefan said. “Something useful, that won’t make the situation worse…” Then he looked over at the pixies, “Do you have any real proof that this fairy baby even exists, other than birdsongs?”  
Flora answered, “We haven’t seen it, we can’t go up to the tower…”  
“Then send a reliable scout,” the king answered, “To discover if this child is real, and if she is, steal her away and bring her here. I think Hubert is right about this. We can force Maleficent to remove her curse from Aurora, and that solves the problem!”  
“Exactly!” Hubert agreed, tossing aside the delicious roast morsel he’d been snacking on, then snatching up a scroll and ripping part of the bottom off. He licked his fingers, removing most of the sauce, picked up a quill, dipped it in some ink, and then quickly scrawled the words EVIL WITCH, WE HAVE YOUR BABY! IF YOU WANT HER BACK, YOU WILL COME TO THE CASTLE AND REMOVE YOUR CURSE FROM THE PRINCESS! “Here we go,” he laughed loudly, “Steal the baby, leave this in her cradle! We’ll see the wicked witch down here fast enough!”   
Stefan read the note, and nodded, handing it to the three good fairies. “Here’s to prayers and good hope. This might all be nothing but excitable gossip, and what we really want is our daughter back, uncursed.” Then he paused and realized something, “Speaking of which, if you’re here, where is she?”  
“Oh, not to worry, sire, she’s in good hands,” Flora assured him, and all three quickly flew away, back to their cottage, where they fully expected to find young Briar Rose right where they had left her, playing with a happy little snake on the cottage floor. They were stunned to discover the child was nowhere to be found, the magical babysitter they had come to rely on seemingly absent. They had no idea that the unseen protector, the elder Maleficent, was at that moment admiring the newborn Rapunzel, and had hoped that poor little Princess Aurora would survive the week without supervision. The pixies were relieved indeed to find the little princess had toddled outside and was playing in a puddle, covered in mud and eating slugs and grubs. First she petted the slugs, singing happily to them, and then she ate them. Quickly using their magic to restore her to cleanliness, they discussed among themselves what they should do.  
“Maybe we can reason with the elder Maleficent,” Fauna suggested. “She’s a little saner than her daughter. Let’s tell the ravens that we want to talk to her about Hubert’s threat…”  
“She vowed to kill us several times,” Merriweather reminded her.   
“First we need to be certain that the fairy baby is even real,” Flora decided. “All right, who wants to go up to the Forbidden Mountain?”  
“But we can’t go up there,” Fauna exclaimed.   
“Oh, I know! Let’s cast a window spell!” Flora exclaimed, “Then we don’t have to go in person, we can just look through!”  
“Oh, yes,” the other two agreed, “Let’s do that!” Leaving little Briar Rose to chase and eat bugs on the floor, they combined their magic and opened up a visual doorway to the Forbidden Mountain. There was no one home except the goblin guards.   
“Where are they?” Merriweather asked, and shifted the magic, the window’s edge turning dark periwinkle and shimmering. Through the portal they saw the riverside in Fairyland, where the two dark fairies sat, admiring a tiny baby who wore a crown of blossoms, and was wrapped in a soft, dark violet blanket, beset with little white flowers and black edging. They were both smiling, and delighted with the infant, who had the longest blond hair they had ever imagined on a baby. Curly golden locks had already reached well past her shoulders.  
“The baby is real,” Fauna exclaimed in amazement. She had suspected that the bird’s stories were exaggerated or outright wrong.  
“Look at that baby’s hair!” Flora added.  
“Where did they get it?” Merriweather asked sourly. “Whose baby did they steal?”  
“Oh,” Fauna said sadly, “Someone, somewhere, is probably missing a baby!”  
“And what are they planning on doing with it?” Merriweather added.  
“We can find out…” Flora began, as little Briar Rose, seeing the beautiful riparian scene through the magic portal, began to run towards it.   
“Oooohhh,” the little princess exclaimed, “Aaahhhh….”   
“That’s a baby,” Flora informed little Briar Rose, who was staring through the magic portal, wishing she could grab that pretty little face. “Wouldn’t it be so precious and dear to raise them together?” she dreamed aloud.  
“So now what do we do?” Fauna asked. “The king wants us to steal Maleficent’s baby. That won’t be easy.”  
“We can’t disobey the king,” Flora decided. “We will just have to slip in under the cover of darkness, and rescue the baby. That’s all there is to it.”   
“Rescue?” Fauna asked.  
“Yes,” Merriweather agreed, “I’m almost sure they stole that baby from someone!”  
They looked at each other unhappily, and waited until late in the evening, after little Briar Rose fell asleep by the fireplace. “Now’s our chance,” Flora said, casting another window spell. An image of the highest tower in the decrepit old castle appeared, and sleeping there in what appeared to be an old bedroom in great disarray, was the tiny, newborn baby. Next to her on the heavy, mahogany four-poster bed, sat the younger dark fairy, who was busily staring at a page in a book with no pictures in it. A black coverlet embroidered with red roses and purple violets was pulled up over her, a similar blanket with lacy edges and tiny white daisies was wrapped around the baby. Above her was a glowing green ball, which illuminated the area. It was very strange to the pixies to see the younger Maleficent without her spiked collar or black headdress. They had no idea her hair was that long.  
“Look at that hair!” Fauna exclaimed. “She must wind it around her horns before she puts on that scary headdress.”  
“What’s she doing?” Merriweather asked.  
“I don’t know,” Flora answered, “There’s nothing but tiny scratches in that book. But I’ve heard that evil fairies steal wizard’s spellbooks and use them.”  
“What for?” Fauna asked curiously. “How could anyone look at a book with no pictures in it?”   
“Evil,” Flora answered authoritatively. “That’s the only thing they could be using them for.”  
“So what do we do now?” Merriweather asked.  
“We wait until she falls asleep, sneak into the forbidden tower, steal the baby, leave the note, and take the baby to King Stefan! Why, we’d be heroes,” Flora thought aloud, “Think of how grateful the king will be! We have to do this!”  
“Well, all right, if you think so,” Fauna agreed.  
“I know so!” Flora declared.  
“Where’s the older Maleficent?” Merriweather asked, and turned the portal blue. Through it she saw the elder dark fairy, curled up in her nest, a wing over her for warmth. “She certainly is strange,” the little blue pixie exclaimed. “Whatever did our poor, dear, sweet Aurora ever see in that dreadful, freakish creature?”  
“Heaven only knows!” Flora agreed, clucking sadly. “If only she’d married Prince Phillip instead of running away with that awful, perverted, wicked dark fairy Maleficent! Well, we won’t let that happen again! That evil witch won’t be stealing any more princesses on our watch!”  
“Certainly not!” Merriweather agreed. They agreed that poor Aurora from many years ago had been sadly misled by evil, and her life ruined. The result had been more evil. Why just look what had happened; the elder Maleficent gave birth to the younger, who was even more wicked than her mother! Why, they all agreed, you could tell from the moment she was born that she was evil, from those weird devil eyes of hers!  
So the pixies drank blueberry tea and waited by the portal for the younger Maleficent to finally finish her intent staring at the pictureless storybook, and go to sleep. Then, they flew out of the cottage, over the treetops, and towards the decrepit Forbidden Fortress. Using all their skills of pixie obfuscation, they slipped past the goblin guards, and up into Maleficent’s own sleeping tower. Gently and silently, Fauna lifted the tiny fairy baby out of the arms of her mother without waking her or the raven, who slumbered overhead on a perch. Flora set the note where the child had been, and putting the baby in a magical basket, flew out into the darkness. Despite occasionally coming perilously close to dropping her, they arrived safely, if exhausted, back at the cottage.  
“Oh, that was terrifying!” Merriweather exclaimed. “What if we’d been caught?”  
“That would have been dreadful,” Flora agreed, “But we did it!”  
“Now let’s have a look at that baby,” Merriweather said, and they all took a good long glance at the sleeping baby, who had darling pointed ears and little horn nubs poking up through the ample golden locks on her pretty little head.  
“Well,” Flora said, “That doesn’t seem like a human child. Maybe it’s Maleficent’s baby after all.”  
“I’m so tired I think I’m going to faint,” Fauna said, setting the baby down beside their little Briar Rose. “I’m going to bed.”  
“Me too,” Merriweather agreed.  
“Me three,” Flora sighed, and they found their own blankets and beds, carefully color coded to match their other possessions. “Good night, sisters!”  
“Good night, Flora,” they responded, and they all quickly fell asleep. They slept soundly through the early morning, and didn’t notice when little Briar Rose woke up.   
“Aaahh,” Briar Rose said, seeing the baby on the floor beside her. How wonderful, a new toy! She smiled and poked at it. The pretty bundle of soft blankets opened its eyes and looked around. “Whooo,” Briar Rose said, and offered those big blue eyes and ruby lips some ashes. The baby didn’t say anything, so she rubbed the ashes on her face. Then she wondered what the rest of it looked like, and pulled on the blankets, which fell apart, revealing the baby’s tiny black and purple nightgown. Briar Rose really liked the baby’s pretty flowered blanket, and so tucked it into her diaper to make a tail. She was also amazed to see little nubs on the baby’s head, and rubbed them good, which made the baby cry. So she stuck her dirty little finger in the baby’s mouth, and laughed merrily as the baby sucked on it. Wow, this was fun! Briar Rose giggled and farted, which she thought was beautiful music. That was fun too, so she laughed some more. Then she decided to go outside and play. She picked up the baby, who flopped around when she tried to make her stand up, and cried as Briar Rose tried to lead her outside by the arm. She didn’t walk very well, so Briar Rose just pulled her along. She had to drop the baby for a moment to use both hands to open the door, but then picked her back up again and out they went, to play in the forest. Briar Rose picked the baby up because she was slow, and skipped along with her new doll under one arm, and babbled happily with the birdsongs, until she came to the stream. Then she dropped the baby and threw rocks into the water, where they made satisfying plopping noises.  
It was quite a bit later that the three pixies awakened, and looking around, noticed Briar Rose and the newborn fairy baby were gone, and the door was open. “Oh, no!” Fauna exclaimed. “Briar Rose! Briar Rose!” she ran outside to look for their young charge.  
“Oh, you don’t suppose the wicked fairies stole them, do you?” Merriweather worried, running after her with Flora.   
“Oh, no!” they all exclaimed together, and ran around in circles looking for their little lost Briar Rose and the fairy baby. Finally, they found the young princess, who was a little over a year and a half old, and the baby, by the stream. Briar Rose was sitting in the shallow part of the water, flinging mud, while the fairy baby was lying next to her on the stream bank, staring up at the sky.  
“Oh, goodness, here they are!” Flora exclaimed. Waving her wand, young Briar Rose floated up and the mud magically came off, a little ruffled pink dress replacing it. Then she waved her wand again, and the baby also rose up, the mud coming off, and her strange black and purple gown was magically clean again, as was her long, curly golden hair.  
“Well, that’s the longest hair I’ve ever seen on a baby,” Fauna said, picking her up, noticing again the pointed ears and horn nubs. So, it wasn’t a stolen human baby, as they had at first thought, “And just look at that dreadful dress! Imagine, black for an infant!”  
“That’s wicked fairies for you,” Merriweather commented, as they led Briar Rose back to the cottage. She ran around in circles, making song-like noises to accompany her musical farting. They set the quiet little fairy baby in Aurora’s old cradle, and making some more blueberry tea, decided what to do next. “We should definitely take them to the king…”  
Bored, little Briar Rose decided to play with her wonderful new toy some more. So she ran over to the cradle and grabbed up the beautiful doll. Falling gracefully back down onto her bottom, due to her many pixie blessings, she was ready to play, when her aunties stopped her. “Oh, no,” Fauna said, “We have to be…” Then she paused and said, “Flora! Merriweather! There’s something wrong with this baby!”  
The other pixies gathered around while little Briar Rose made talking sounds, and poked at the baby, who didn’t move at all. Flora gasped, “Oh, no! I think she’s…”  
“Dead?” Merriweather asked, pulling on a little hand. There was no resistance at all, like a living creature would have. She flopped like a leaf.  
“Oh no!” Fauna exclaimed.  
“Oh dear!” Flora shouted. “This is terrible! Oh, what should we do? We can’t take a dead fairy baby to the king!” They wailed and wondered what to do, until Flora then suggested that they simply hide the infant somewhere in the forest, and then move to a more hidden location, farther away, “Somewhere Maleficent will never find us! Something that doesn’t even look like a house, and hard to see from the air, and we can never use magic again!”  
So they hid the little fairy baby in the forest, under some bushes, and taking Briar Rose, moved from the woodcutter’s old cottage into a ramshackle, abandoned dwelling that some Wood Elves had once lived in, long ago, before they died of the Great Plague. Partly constructed from a tree, the great oak had grown, and almost torn the house apart as it did so. “It has to look like no one lives here! This is the only place we could hide,” Flora decided, “And no more magic! We can’t let the wicked fairies find us, or they will do something terrible!”  
“Now what do we tell the king?” Merriweather asked.  
“Oh, I don’t know…” Flora fretted. Then her eyes bugged open, “The note!”  
At that moment, high up in her tower, the younger dark fairy awoke. She noticed immediately that her baby was gone, and found a piece of paper in her place. Maybe Mother took her out to admire trees and meet their spirits, Maleficent thought. Apparently Mother must have thought she was being nice, letting Mallie sleep, but she was going to have to mention to Mother the importance of asking first before flying off with the baby, and unrolled the note. She realized as soon as she saw the writing that it was not from the elder dark fairy, and when she read it, was instantly enraged. She shrieked, and leapt out of bed. Throwing on some robes and seizing up her staff, she used the crystal on the end to see where her little Rapunzel was. All she saw was shrubbery. Beside herself with anguish, she teleported to the riverside where the elder dark fairy was sitting quietly, drinking something from a large flower blossom. “Look at this!” she screamed.  
The older dark fairy took the scrap of paper from her agitated daughter, and read the note. “Please try to calm down, dear,” she said soothingly. “Can you lift the curse?”  
“Yes,” was the seething answer, “But they stole Rapunzel! They stole my child!”  
“Let’s simply go to the castle,” she said gently, “Take the curse off of the princess, and take Rapunzel home.” She had both hands on the younger Maleficent’s shoulders, and spoke slowly and soothingly.   
“What if they killed her? What if this is a trap?”  
“I do not think that they will harm her, because what the king and queen want is their daughter back, released from your spell. So let us just go and speak with them. Surely they must know that if they hurt or kill her, they would only receive more curses. So calm down, dear, and let’s go.”  
The younger dark fairy nodded, trying to control herself, and looking into the crystal on the end of her staff, saw both kings talking together at a large table in what was King Stephan’s old keep. Then taking the elder’s arm, she teleported them both to the castle, appearing in the dining hall, where Stefan and Hubert were in the middle of lunch. Both kings stood up and dropped their food when the dark fairies appeared. Queen Leah gasped, and little Prince Philip ducked under the table quickly, not wanting any part of whatever was happening.  
“By blazes, there’s two of them!” Hubert shouted.   
The elder dark fairy kept a hand on her anxious daughter, and held the note up. “Our little Rapunzel is missing, and my daughter found this in her place. We will concede to your demands, and remove the curse from the princess. We want our fairy baby back.”  
“Excellent,” Stefan agreed. “The only trouble is we don’t have either child here.”  
“Where are they?” the winged fairy asked, noticing little Prince Philip peeking out from under the tablecloth.  
“I would suspect that the Three Good Fairies have both children in their care,” Stefan answered.  
The younger dark fairy screamed, and the elder one looked very worried, “Where?” she asked. “Where exactly are the pixies?”  
“I don’t know…” the king mused, and saw the evil witch using her magic staff, this time to discover exactly where the child was.   
Again, all she saw in the crystal was the same shrubbery, and she screamed in worry and frustration. Mother took her hand and said, “Let’s just go to the old woodcutter’s cottage. They are probably at the same place they took our Aurora long ago. Calm down, and let’s go.”  
“Calm down? Why is the crystal only showing me these bushes?” Then she paused and looked askance at Mother, “What were you drinking out of that flower to make you so calm?”  
“Just nectar, Mallie, now let’s go to the cottage and find Rapunzel,” the elder dark fairy suggested, as her daughter seized her arm and dragging her along, they teleported to the woodcutters cottage while the human kings sat gaping at the empty spot the two dark fairies had occupied only an instant before. Stumbling for a moment, Maleficent regained her balance, and looked around. This was certainly it, but the door was left open.   
The younger fairy looked inside, and quickly discerned that no one was there. The cottage did look lived-in, however, and so she turned around. “They aren’t here,” she concluded.  
“Let’s search the surrounding woods,” the elder fairy suggested. “Somehow I suspect that the bushes you are seeing in the crystal aren’t far away from here.” Indeed, less than a minute’s looking revealed the baby’s embroidered, flower and lace black blanket, lying on the forest floor alongside the trail to the stream. “So we know that she was here,” she concluded.  
“Or that someone wants us to think that she was here. What if the king is lying, or worse, if Aura took her?”  
“Perhaps, but the pixies aren’t very smart, and this is clearly the work of idiots. If the king had her, he would have immediately asked us to remove the curse, even if they had planned on attacking us afterwards. Nor, I believe, would he have stashed her in the bushes. I do not think Aura had anything to do with this, because the note has grease stains upon it, and the writing is in all capital letters. She has a taste for finer things, not dirty messes. The greasy fingerprints and sauce smears would indicate the writer to be King Hubert. Besides, she wouldn’t stash Rapunzel under a bush, she would have some sort of arcane baby prison. Use the crystal again, but this time, ask the blanket to tell its tale.” She watched with interest as the globe on the end of the staff once again darkened with smoke and then cleared, this time showing the interior of the woodcutter’s cottage, in front of the hearth where the fire had gone out. The young princess took the elegant little blanket and partially stuffed it into the back of her bloomers. Then, to their horror, she dragged the baby along behind her by the arm, and dropping her by the front door, pushed it open, and pulling the infant along, proceeded along the path to the stream, the little blanket falling out of her diaper halfway there. Then the little blanket’s tale ended, but it showed the dark fairies all that they had needed to know. The elder fairy’s heart sank, not only was her newborn granddaughter probably dead, but little Briar Rose had done the deed, out of sheer ignorance and lack of supervision. “Maybe the little princess left her in the bushes,” she suggested, noticing that her daughter’s eyes were blazing red. “Snow White found me abandoned at about the same age, perhaps there is still hope if we find her quickly.”  
“Snow White didn’t drag you to your death,” she growled in response, her eyes glowing in rage and anguish. “I will tear that little beast apart if I ever find it!”  
“Let’s find Rapunzel first,” she suggested, starting to look around. “Come, let us check the stream. It is natural that small children are attracted to water.” She followed the trail a short distance to the muddy little stream, and saw footprints everywhere. It was clear enough what had happened, and in all likelihood, Rapunzel had drowned, and then Princess Aurora had pulled her back out of the water to play with her some more in the mud. Then, the pixies had found the children and taken them back to the cottage. She saw her daughter, staff in one hand, baby blanket in the other, seething with frustration and wrath. “The pixies probably put her under the brush,” she suggested, “Most likely not far from here.”   
“I am going to kill that creature. Hang her up, break her arms, and then partially drown her so I can do it again!”  
“Dearest, I’m heartbroken as well over what happened here. But Aurora is a small child, who didn’t know any better. It’s those idiotic pixies who stole Rapunzel and then didn’t supervise the children that are to blame.”   
“And their ends shall be far worse!” the younger dark fairy thundered, screaming in rage and frustration. Her voice echoed off the mountains, and lightning shot across the sky as she raised her staff, “Death upon those vile creatures! The pixies will suffer a thousand times over for what they have done!” The sky went black, green fairy fire shooting up into the clouds and rolling around ominously, booming back down and then crimson bolts raced overhead like a great spider web, crashing and sparking.  
More curses, the elder fairy thought sadly. So much negativity all set in motion was bound to have dreadful and unforeseen consequences. She sighed and left her daughter to scream and shriek into the wind, vowing vengeance and death upon her enemies, while the elder fairy looked for what she was almost certain was going to be the baby’s body. Soon enough, she found her, tucked underneath the same bush they had seen in the crystal, and hidden from ordinary sight. Pixie obfuscation, she thought angrily, the decent thing to do would have been to apologize and bring the child back, not hide her body and run away. She picked up the tiny, lifeless baby, and cried softly. If only, she thought, if only…   
They buried the baby beside beloved Aurora’s grave, and hoped that the newborn’s little soul was still quite familiar with the spirit world, and easily found her way to the Halls of Mandos and Aurora’s waiting arms.  
Away in the castle, Hubert and Stefan noticed the magical firestorm on the horizon, and Hubert exclaimed, “By God, that can’t be good! I wonder whatever that means?”  
But Stefan and the queen had no answers, only questions, and nor did they hear back from any of the fairies, good or evil. They could only wait anxiously, worry, and wonder, hoping that the good fairies would return after Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, bringing her back home safe and sound.  
Meanwhile, the pixies too noticed the thunder and lightning, and knew that Maleficent and her mother must have found the baby, and were furious. In fear for their very lives, they redoubled their efforts at hiding. “No magic, ever!” they told each other, and they cautioned little Briar Rose constantly to avoid strangers, to speak to no one, and to never go too far away from their treehouse. Throughout her childhood, the most common admonitions she ever heard, and there were many, were to Never Talk to A Stranger, and Never to Go Too Far Away, and to always Be Careful.


	51. Tea in the Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent attempts to comfort her psychotic, heartbroken daughter, while also trying to conceal her aid to the young princess.

Chapter 51  
Tea in the Tower

Maleficent thought that Aura would return, but she didn’t. They had never been apart before, at least not for very long. When they were young, Maleficent travelled with Aura, performing the spells that were needed. As they aged, and their visits became less frequent, they still always felt a special connection between them, as if they were still able to feel one another’s presence, however physically far apart they were. But this was different, this was meant to be a punishment, and the dark fairy felt the loneliness acutely. She was distraught when she spied upon Aura through her magic crystal ball, and saw the red-haired she-devil doing the sorts of spells she used to perform. With a sudden shock, she realized that she had been quickly and easily replaced by someone else, a substitute whom Aura had no doubt kept in reserve for just such an eventuality. She never loved me, Maleficent realized with sad certainty. It was like a chasm opening up in her heart and beneath her feet, and she fell down into the bitter, deep depths of despair. She felt cold and broken, like a child’s old plaything left outside and forgotten forever, and mourned constantly for her lost baby, the lovely little Rapunzel for whom she had given so much and had for so short a time. There was very little to distract her from her terrible loss, and she alternated between paralyzing grief and hyperactive rage.   
Days went by, then weeks, months, and finally years. The yellow eyed sorceress sat alone in her castle atop the Forbidden Mountain, with no one but her pet raven Diablo and her half-devils for companionship. The old fortress fell even further into disrepair, and from a distance gave the impression that it might at any moment tumble over. Her mother would visit, hoping to lift her sagging spirits, but the dark fairy fell further into sullen silence. She would sit on her solitary chair in what had once been the throne room of her early childhood, rubbing her fingers together as she stared at nothing, but hallucinating vividly, seeing pictures and hearing voices that only existed in her own head. More seldom, she would use the crystal ball on the end of her staff to scry. Whenever she spied upon her twin, she saw the radiantly beautiful Aura, worshipped and adored wherever she went throughout her vast kingdom, looking so lovely that the very stones wept at the sound of her heavenly voice when she passed by, and all women and men who beheld her fell instantly in love with her. The sight was always immediately enraging, and then left her feeling utterly despondent. Aura was the light of the world, and all who looked upon her loved her and despaired. They feel just like I do, the young sorceress thought to herself, and the very notion that even her suffering was not unique sent her into fits of simultaneous rage and wretched hopelessness. She practiced on me, Maleficent realized; perfected her lies and arts of manipulation. She doesn’t care about me at all. I loved her and she simply tossed me aside when I was no longer useful.  
To distract and amuse herself, she would spy upon the king and queen, the traitorous pixies, and their young charge, the little Princess Aurora, Beauty of the Dawn, whom they had nicknamed Briar Rose. Watching the hated pixies was usually dull; all they did was chatter inanely to each other, drink tea, and eat, eat, eat. She had plans to destroy them all, and avenge her little lost Rapunzel, but couldn’t figure out exactly where they were. They seemed to be living in some sort of tree, but there were millions of those in the vast, misty forest. Her half-devils had been ordered to search the woodlands, both high and low, up into the mountains, but they had so far been unsuccessful. Watching the queen was boring as well, all she ever did was sew or cry, but the king was more entertaining. She would laugh at his stupidity, and then sneer in mockery. The arrogant mortals were already making wedding plans for the little princess and Hubert’s son; building a palace for them to live in, even. Drunken fools, she laughed. But she was almost surprised one afternoon to find her mother leaving baskets of flowers, fruits, and colored eggs for the child. She understood why, the pixies didn’t even bother to feed the girl. The stupid creatures seemed to think the little human chewed cud contentedly outside all day, but seeing the elder dark fairy smile wistfully from the shadows gave her an entirely new emotion; a quite unwelcome mix of jealousy and anguish that had no bottom, and made her despise the pretty little girl with hair of gold even more than she already did, and her well-meaning mother, whom she had asked repeatedly to stay away from the princess and not interfere. The child deserved death, as far as she was concerned. She glared at her mother when she came to visit, and sometimes barely controlled the urge to strike her. So Mother had betrayed her, too.  
“Mallie,” the elder Maleficent said, trying to soothe, “I too still grieve for our lost Rapunzel, and I know you miss Aura, your twin. I don’t know what brought this on, why she has avoided us. But this is not the end of all things. Perhaps much of what you feel is the other end of the curse you cast. Such magic always pulls the caster down with it. I didn’t know about that when I first cast my curse on Aurora. I was so angry at Stephan I didn’t bother to think about it. The energy that was meant to destroy her had to build inside of me, and it was awful! I understand what you are feeling, truly I do! But even this must end, and someday you will look back and it will be only time that passed in between happier portions of your life…” However she spoke in vain, the baleful yellow eyes stared back at her as though she were nothing but a noisy distraction. It pained her deeply to see one of her children so mired in anger and depression. But her little one rejected her harshly, especially when she tried to put her arms around her and comfort her, as she would have when she was small. She needed healing, and Maleficent wished, as she had so many times before, that Aurora was still with them, to lighten their child’s heart. But neither dark fairy had that talent, and the closest thing Maleficent could offer was the sharing of her magical energy field. But when she tried to embrace her youngest daughter, and touch their horns together in harmony, to create that thrum, thrum, thrum, reverberation that would bring them stronger magic and unity, she was pushed away. “Talk to me, then,” she would say, “If you will not accept my help, at least tell me what you are thinking and feeling.”  
“Mother, no!” the younger sorceress sneered, keeping her at arms’ length. Sadly, the winged dark fairy kept her distance, although she longed to close the chasm that had developed between them. “I’m not a baby,” the younger woman often snapped, “I don’t want your pity or your energy.”  
“Please listen,” the elder dark fairy would say, “I want to help you. I miss you, and I know how it feels to be alone, and think that no one cares…” Though spoken from the heart, such words were usually met with sneers and snarls, and more sullen silence.   
“Mother,” the young sorceress snapped one evening, “If you want to make me smile, bring me a pitchfork with a pixie on each tine.”  
“I know dear, I don’t like the stupid, meddlesome traitors either, and they have been a misery to endure for as long as I have known them. They were the ones who cursed me with death in childbirth, when you and Aura were being born…” she paused, realizing that the mere mention of young Maleficent’s twin was enough to provoke her.  
“Or perhaps the young princess is a priority? You’ve been widowed for almost a century,” she said, venom dripping from every word. She watched in fury and envy as her mother’s eyes welled up with tears, and the older fairy grew extremely quiet. The very sad truth was that little Briar Rose was the sole ray of sunshine in the elder Maleficent’s mostly silent and lonely world. Watching the little human child made her sometimes recall what happiness was, and she had to be reminded. It had been so long, that joy had the quality of a dream she might have had, long ago. “Where is she? Are you helping her?” she asked, “I told you not to, and you did before, ignoring my wishes! She killed my newborn daughter! Remember?”  
“What else could I do?” the elder fairy responded, sadly resigned to there being no good answers. Anything she said would only infuriate, but silence would be worse. The younger dark fairy had long ago abandoned compassion and common sense, now there was only madness and nightmares that endlessly replayed themselves. “She would have died if I hadn’t set out food for her, and sent blossoms of nectar to her in her cradle.”  
“I have asked you many times not to interfere!” the younger dark fairy thundered, “If the creature dies before I find and kill it, it dies! Let it be on the pixies heads! Let the king hunt them down and give to them their well-deserved fates! Where are they?”  
“I do not know,” was always the answer.  
“How did you find them?”  
“Dear, I didn’t.” But she had. Attempting to discover how many nymphs and dryads still lived in the forest, she visited the old abandoned oak tree with the ramshackle cottage attached, and was amazed to discover that the young dryad reputed to live there was actually a human; the Princess Aurora. Wrestling with her own conscience, she said nothing. She hoped that time would soothe her daughter’s anger, and although she too was still saddened by the loss of her granddaughter, she knew that letting another child die wouldn’t bring the first one back.   
And the younger sorceress knew that her mother was lying, and hadn’t stopped helping the little princess, because the beast didn’t die; the elder fairy was simply hiding her aid better, by remaining hidden in the shadows and leaving only baskets of food and small necessities for the little girl to find in the forest or in the wild gardens behind the cottage. She stopped speaking with the child, so that such scenes never appeared in young Maleficent’s crystal ball. Yet, when she saw the grubby, ill-kept little princess eating fanciful fruits and blossoms out of a beribboned basket, which had been lined with a warm shawl for the child to wear, she knew exactly who had left such things there.   
Slowly, their beautiful Fairyland began to sink into darkness as well, as the young sorceress thundered in wrath, pain and frustration on her mountaintop, and the elder wept for her losses beside the tree that grew over her true love’s grave; little Rapunzel buried beside Aurora. Still, she did not give up. Although she was slowly losing any real hope of reaching her child, of healing the root of her despair and fury, still she brought her food and flowers, walking up the decrepit stairways of the castle and speaking even when no one was listening but birds and ghosts. The ravens told her stories, and the existence of the strange little goblins puzzled her; they were guttural, stupid, and slovenly. Why ever did Mallie keep such creatures around? They made terrible messes, and angered the young sorceress constantly, causing her to erupt into fits of temper and throw lightning bolts at them. It was they who absorbed the brunt of her rage, and she frequently beat them, especially when one of them foolishly interrupted her staring. Usually, she found her daughter either sulking alone in an empty throne room, or hiding in her sleeping tower, spying on her twin through the magic crystal ball, and muttering to herself. Some of the goblin-orclings had her daughter’s golden dragon eyes, but that puzzled her as well, surely beautiful, powerful young Maleficent had never lain with orcs or goblins? More importantly, if any of those wild, filthy creatures were her children, why on earth didn’t she take care of them? It couldn’t be, she thought, they were just too ugly, and there were so very many of them; forty or so of the creatures. Surely it was as she had once been told; Mallie had found them in a basket out in the forest. The elder dark fairy remembered quite well her daughter listlessly feeding the orclings scraps. She would sit there on the floor, and drop bits of bread and meat into the basket, watching the ratlike little creatures gnaw on them. It had been quite a grotesque and disturbing sight, but the elder dark fairy had wondered why she hadn’t simply drowned them in the river, as she had claimed she was going to do. Why would anyone want orcs or goblins? Maleficent wasn’t sure what they were. Some looked like other creatures; pigs, goats, and birds, but most were rat-like. She wondered, and wanted to ask. Yet, she didn’t interfere, knowing that any such questions would cause instant rage attacks. So she hid her illicit aiding of the princess, and brought similar gifts and treats to the young sorceress, thinking perhaps she might soothe some of the hatred and seething wrath. The younger Maleficent shrieked at her yellow-eyed goblins, demanding that they search farther and longer.   
“Have you searched everywhere?” she inquired.  
They garbled their guttural answers, about how they had searched the villages, the mountains, and forests, but never found a beautiful blond baby girl in a cradle. That caused their mistress to erupt into shrieking laughter, and they hesitantly laughed along. Then, she turned on them, and calling them idiots and imbeciles, she threw lightning bolts at them as they fled down the stairways of the castle. “All these years, they’ve been looking for a baby!” she shrieked.  
Her mother sighed and grumbled, “Sounds like a lack of management oversight to me.”  
“What?” the younger dark fairy snapped, turning on her.  
“Nothing, Mallie dear. Would you like some tea? I brought you some nectar blossoms.”  
Many sad, lonely, and uneasy years had passed, and still, Aura did not return, while her abandoned twin sister went mad with grief, and their mother tried to do what she could to help, but felt that her efforts were mostly wasted, except for feeding and providing basic care to the princess, whom she realized one day was approaching her sixteenth birthday. Powerful magical forces would start moving now, very soon, and the young dark fairy would need close supervision. The chances that she would do something to aggravate her already dark, inauspicious existence were very high. She still remembered, after all these years, the intense pressure that had built around her in the ethereal and astral planes, as rolling clouds of negative magical energy had accumulated. It was awful as it gathered, but would be even worse once it had spontaneously dissipated, and equalized between the young sorceress and the cursed princess. One was cursed to die, the other might perish as well as the magic waves bounced back and forth between them. But she said nothing to anyone about her thoughts.  
“Do you still read, darling?” the elder dark fairy asked her daughter one evening, looking around the disheveled bedroom high in young Maleficent’s sleeping tower, at the dusty books and scrolls. She noticed the dirty, tattered curtains and the worn blankets. The rugs were threadbare, and the beautifully embroidered black bedspread, decorated with lavender and crimson roses, smelled sour and old, like it hadn’t been washed in many years; or even had a freshening or cleansing spell swept over it. There were shed feathers, both black raven ones and a few white ones, which had become layered in the dust and debris on the floor. Little baby gowns of black and soft pink, with now-tarnished silver embroidery were still left out on the dresser, as though they were about to be used.  
“Of course I can still read, Mother,” she snarled in reply, “Do you think that I have become a simpleton?”  
“Certainly not, Mallie, I merely wondered…” she paused, meeting the basilisk’s stare. She sighed, if the younger dark fairy succeeded in making her gaze any more petrifying, she would indeed be turning people to stone with her glances. “There are quite a few old spell books around, I wondered if you still used them.”  
“No,” was the reply, delivered with a contemptuous sneer. Aura was right, the younger dark fairy thought, most of these old books were worthless junk. “Take them if you want. You bothered to bring those things here from White Castle. I’ve no use for most of them; those childish tomes on fancy dresses and being pretty.”  
“I can’t leave them out in the rain,” Maleficent answered, wondering if her daughter realized just how unattractive that nasty sneering and snarling was. The constant peevishness and rage attacks weren’t very charming, either. She was pretty, in a different, fey kind of loveliness, when she smiled, but the smirking, the anger, and rude, snide comments distorted her features and made her ugly. “And I thought to make a library that all of us could use.”  
“All of us?” she scoffed. Her two older sisters were beautiful, butterfly fairies who were already lovely, and had married their princes, finding homes and happiness far away. Their unions also conveniently made valuable alliances for the Queen of Peace, who expanded her influence substantially with her sisters’ marriages. Aura had never learned how to cast a proper spell in her life, before she had met and married a god, and become a goddess herself, drawing off of his power and that of their worshippers. All she could really do was manipulate others, and in that she excelled greatly, to the detriment and sorrow of many. So many years ago, Aurora had been interested in learning magic, but it didn’t come naturally to her. She was an excellent healer, but an utterly ineffective sorceress. Nor had she really had much spare time for studying, the duties of queenship had kept her quite busy. When young Aura had accused the wizards of crafty misdeeds, in order to rid herself of their prying eyes, Phillip and Rudyard had left years ago, and presumably returned to the White Castle. Years later, they returned to talk to young Maleficent, who had then flown into a rage and ordered them to leave, and they did so sadly, and Rudyard never returned, although Phillip had, to speak to his longtime friend Aurora. Sometimes she regretted the ill-timed and thoughtlessly cruel things she’d said, but her anger seemed bottomless. Watching her graceful, lovely even in grief and age mother close her beautiful, expressive eyes and sigh in resignation infuriated her. “Yes!” she shrieked, throwing a pile of scrolls, all patterns for exquisitely designed gowns at her, “I’m ugly! Monstrously, fiendishly ugly! I don’t want to read books about being pretty, either! Go to hell, Mother!” She laughed wildly as the older woman’s eyes flew open in shock.   
“You’re beautiful, dear,” she began, and stopped when she realized that her words were having the opposite effect that she would have liked them to. Yellow eyes were blazing and glowing in outright hatred, and she took a step back, although she didn’t really believe that her child would attack her. The depth of the wrath and resentment was stunning, and she still believed, unjustified. What had she ever done to deserve such anger? Her Little One had never been the same after her brief marriage, and any time in the Abyss was too long. How she had worried about her naïve but seductive yellow-eyed daughter, after ruining the marriage binding spell! Thrown out of the temple like a common tramp by the dark-skinned djinn, she hadn’t seen or heard from either twin until Adrastia had appeared to her one evening with a look of utter satisfaction. “Come get your child,” she had smugly announced, with a serenely arrogant look upon pronouncing the word “your.” The she-devil had looked ultimately triumphant, smirking as though she had finally won some long, difficult game. Then, offering the dark fairy her hand to teleport into the Abyss, Maleficent had braved the risk. And what she had seen when she arrived! All types of devils and demons standing around in a hallway of a great palace, talking and laughing to each other, watching the young bride scream. On her knees, eyes shut, and clawing at herself mercilessly, hands, arms and face, screaming that she wanted to go home, wanted her mother, in the process of completely falling apart. Adrastia had given the elder dark fairy a triumphant look of utter contempt, and once again told her to take her child; they didn’t want her. So she had then taken her unfortunate daughter back to the old nest up in the craggy tree, and finally succeeded in calming her down. When the screaming turned into mortified, tearless weeping, Maleficent had told her that it was over; no more terrifying devils or arranged marriages to fiends for gold and power. She could stay there, in the fairyland of her early childhood forever, or until whenever she chose to leave. Screaming and tearless crying turned into tales of orgies, blood sacrifices and unendurable pain, some physical, but so much more based on betrayal, often from her own twin, and too frequently, from looking into the eyes of victims. Her stories caused the elder dark fairy to weep as well, as she listened and sheltered them both beneath her wings. Then her Little One had slept for days, and when she reawakened, she was a different person.  
That was when everything about her had seemed changed. Quiet sweetness turned to silent rage and seething hatred at almost random things. Kindness and beauty made her lash out at sudden unforeseen moments, and her rage attacks were frequent and completely unpredictable. It was as though anything might set her off, and no one knew quite when or what it might be. That was also when the sneering and snarling had started, when she’d returned from the Outer Planes. The young dark fairy’s slight, thoughtful smiles had always been few, but now they were extremely rare; mostly she smirked at anything she had used to love. There had been a brief, partial respite from the insanity during pregnancy, when the young sorceress had returned to the forest, recovered a healthier green color, and after little Rapunzel was born, seemed almost happy again. But that had been all too brief, and ended suddenly and tragically, the earlier symptoms and behaviors returning with a vengeance. So this was what Adrastia considered winning; to have destroyed Maleficent’s youngest daughter. The elder dark fairy was thinking about those dark times when the staff struck her in the head, and then she stood there in utter shock, aware that her child had just attacked her with an object but disbelieving it, was hit again. She quickly unfroze, and moved backward and out of the way. “Why are you…” She had never hurt any of her children, they had always enjoyed such a peaceful household, and so she was shocked by the speed and viciousness of the attack. She threw up her hands to ward off another blow, only defending herself. The staff kept striking; her arms, her head, wherever she left an opening. She was considering a disarming spell, but a much more powerful, offensive spell was used on her first. In a moment of purely maternal pride, she was impressed that her child was so much stronger than she was, but it passed quickly, to be replaced by the very real feeling that this was an attack. Lightning seemed to strike her from every direction, and she lit up in pain. Attempting to breathe, she was too slow to fend off the staff, which struck her in the head again. In a most unwelcome moment of indignity, she realized that she wasn’t young any longer, and that she would have absorbed the damage easily in her youth, but being a nearly three hundred year old fairy lady with silver streaks in her hair, she crackled and broke like a pane of glass. Seeing a sparkly river of orange magic out of one eye and nothing out of the other, she slumped to the floor, and wondered if perhaps this was how she died. Beaten to death by one of her own children? When she reached the Halls of Mandos, Aurora would be shocked; completely stunned, she thought, as she closed her eyes.  
The young sorceress didn’t stop beating the unconscious figure until her staff had blood on it, and then she suddenly came to her senses. She stood there hesitating for a moment, wondering what she was supposed to do, and whether or not she had just beaten her mother to death. Purplish-blue fairy blood was splattered on the floor and their clothes. “Mother?” she asked, and setting down her staff, poked at her curiously, and watched with fascination as the magical sparkling effervesced off of the sticky, bluish blood. Fairies healed quickly, maybe she would get back up. So she sat there and waited. Although the injured fairy did stop bleeding, she didn’t move at all. “Mother?” She was sitting there quite confused, when Diablo flew in through the window and told her to put the unconscious woman on the bed, not to leave her on the cold, stone floor. The bird had no further advice, and so the young sorceress sat in a chair and read by green fairy light most of the night about methods of enchanting weapons. Just before dawn, she heard a moaning noise, and realized that her mother had awakened. Not knowing what to do, she simply sat and stared at her. Part of her wanted to start beating her again, but she didn’t, and instead thought back to her early childhood, and wondered what Mummy Aurora would have done. Hug her? Make bright light from her hands that instantly made all wounds disappear? That was what the golden haired woman whose sunny smile and merry laughter had been so long gone from their lives would have done, but that didn’t help her very much at the moment. She didn’t have healing powers, and no longer knew anyone who did. So she watched and waited, while the older woman regained consciousness. She was saying something, and it took a while to figure out that she was asking for water.   
Pulling herself into a sitting position, Maleficent was wary because the younger sorceress was still there, eyeing her strangely. “May I have some water?” she asked.  
“Yes,” was the reply, and she handed her a glass. She stood there while Mother muttered a polite thank you, and drank the water. All sorts of things went through her head, but none of them seemed right. Ravens were cawing outside, gossiping to one another about what had happened, and it was starting to rain. She knew that her mother, having those big, feathery wings, wasn’t thrilled about being out in the rain, since it made her cold, wet, and heavy. She looked out the window, and down at the darkened land beneath. Colors would begin to spread across the sky soon, and creatures would awaken and start to stir. She listened to the rainfall on the stonework, and then heard a cough. Turning around, she said, “Well, this is awkward, isn’t it?”  
“Why?” she asked softly. She wasn’t sure what to expect, and felt like she no longer knew this person at all. That angry, evil eyed creature had once been her dearest Little One, but who was she now? What was she? So this was what Adrastia considered winning? Why? Why, Maleficent wondered sadly. What twisted delight did the she-devil experience at the thought of having ruined two lives?   
“Why is it awkward, or why did I beat you?”  
“Both.”  
“It’s awkward because I’m not sure what to do, and I’m not sure why I decided to attack you, only that I enjoyed it, and I’m also not sure if I’m going to do it again.” She watched in sadistic glee as the woman beneath her writhed in discomfort and confusion. Part of her was filled with hate, the other part with a panicked compassion that made her regret what she was doing even as she did it. Ripping the talon off of the beautiful left wing, she tore slowly, to see the blood flow and feel every shudder. It wasn’t as deliciously gleeful as she had hoped, and she had to force herself to finish by ripping the enormous nail cleanly off.   
Mother screamed, and then said, “You’re not her, dear. You’re the good twin! You have a heart, and a soul. You suffer so much because you do, and she’s torturing you by her silence. I know who crucified the mice, and who killed the Olverung. Of course I know! It was a mystery to the others, but as we both know, who else but Aura would have tortured that little vulture of a bird to death only to hear it sing? You’re not evil or ugly, dear, so don’t force yourself to be.”  
“But… if I’m not an evil sorceress, what else is there for me to be? There’s nothing left.”  
“Yes there is,” the elder dark fairy said softly, “Who you were, and would have been, if you had never left for the Abyss.”  
So the younger Maleficent had stayed her hand. She remembered her early days of wizardry and wonder, tossing magical fireballs to and fro with the wizards, and their Stinking Glyph game, where the person who couldn’t identify the rune got a face full of stinking gas. That had usually been Phillip the Apprentice or her twin, Aura, who was terrible at sorcery. She laughed, and Mother smiled, scooting over on the dirty bed. She patted the space beside her on the spotty, smelly blankets, and the younger sorceress lay down beside her. “Remind me,” she said, “I cannot remember.”


	52. Dreadful Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Briar Rose meets a handsome young man in the forest, and falls in love. She is devastated to learn that she is really the Princess Aurora, and can never see that young man again. While the elder Maleficent is stunned and horrified to discover the affair between her twin daughters, the younger dark fairy molests the prince in the dungeon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!   
> Possible non-con. Prince Philip is arrogant and not very bright, and Maleficent has her way with him in the dungeon.

Chapter 52  
Dreadful Surprises

While high upon the mountaintop in the decrepit old fortress the elder dark fairy soothed her insane daughter, deep in the woods other events were occurring. Unbeknownst to both Prince Philip and Princess Aurora, both blessed with incredible good looks, being beloved by all who knew them, and other fairy gifts, they were about to experience the heady, intoxicating experience of the compounding of a pixie blessing. The lovely young princess, who believed that she was just a poor orphan, had met a boy in the woods, and fallen in love with him, or just liked him a lot, but they both believed it was true love, because they were both quite nice and amazingly attractive. And the handsome young prince had met a delightful, unpretentious young peasant girl who was a refreshing delight compared to the scheming social climbers, demanding princesses, and wide assortment of prostitutes that he was used to. So when the dashing Prince Hubert Harmone Philip Prescott III met young Briar Rose in the woods, they developed an instant bond, and thought that they were meant for each other. Then, Briar Rose panicked, because she was talking to A Stranger, and had gone Too Far Away, huge transgressions of her aunties’ rules, and she might be In Trouble. It was very dangerous to talk to A Stranger, they wanted to do Bad Things. So after promising to meet him later that evening, she ran back to the treehouse as fast as her bare feet could carry her. In her whole life, she had never once worn a pair of shoes.  
While Prince Philip went to inform his dumbstruck father King Hubert that he was going to marry a peasant maid, whose name he was unsure of, Briar Rose was surprised on her sixteenth birthday to discover that she was really a princess, the long-lost Princess Aurora, and was going to be returned to the castle and her parents that very night. Her aunties also told her that she was never to see that young man again, she was betrothed to someone else since birth, and that she had disobeyed them by talking to A Stranger. But he wasn’t A Stranger, she cried, they’d met before, once upon a dream! But they were adamant, and so she burst into tears, and ran upstairs to her little sanctuary within the treehouse, feeling that her heart was broken.  
Each told separately that they could not be together, they both became despondent, and each endeavoring to run away, poised themselves perfectly to fulfill the curse. Briar Rose wept pitifully as though her heart was breaking when her three elderly aunties told her that it was time to go, that very night she would be reunited with her parents at her father’s castle. Thinking that she would never see her true love again, Briar Rose sobbed all the way to the palace. Even meeting her parents for the first time didn’t diminish the terrible, unbearable pain of loss, and all she could think about was him, and how perfectly wonderful he was. She was obsessed with the handsome young man, and all she wanted was him. She was oblivious to the finery around her, and scarcely noticed when her grubby, grayish peasant garb was discarded and she found herself dressed in an elegant ball gown, prepared for an enchanted evening in the castle. Looking lovely in a beautiful, magical blue dress and matching, pretty satin slippers with delicate little bows upon her feet for the very first time, she sat in her unfamiliar new boudoir and wept.  
High upon the mountaintop, in the Forbidden Fortress, on the Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday, the young sorceress Maleficent lay in her mother’s arms, listening to wonderful stories and vague recollections of events that probably happened and were mostly true about dwarves, elves, wizards, ancient witches and ogres who smelled like swamp gas and abducted unsuspecting locals to babysit. The elder Maleficent wasn’t quite sure about some of the events any more, certain stories had been repeated so often to the children and long-ago listeners for evening entertainment, with the lovemaking episodes, the lecherous creatures, and cruelty edited out for innocent ears and gossips that it was occasionally hard for her to remember what really happened. Then there were the things that she had intentionally forgotten. But the young sorceress giggled, her long fingers waving around while she heard some of those same stories for the twentieth or thirtieth time. She was smiling dreamily, listening to her mother tell stories of Bart Onionskin and crotchroaches as her eyes were closing, even as the gnawing sensation that she had left something unfinished continued to grow in her mind. “What did I forget?” she murmured aloud.  
“Nothing important, my dearest Little One,” the elder dark fairy said sweetly into her ear. She pulled up an old blanket over her child for warmth and leaned one wing over them, to shield out the noise of the crows and ravens outside the window. The sounds of blackbirds fighting over nesting territory was a familiar one, as they had become crankier with the constant turnover in fledglings. It seemed one clutch of eggs was barely hatched before another was upon them in a second spring for the year. Some poor raven parents had a larger nest of older babies to feed while taking turns sitting on eggs in a smaller nest, and rotated the youngsters through. The crows were working together in a more communistic fashion, and so were pushing the ravens out by bullying them with sheer numbers. Maleficent was used to raven caws, but she found crows to be meddlesome, and troublemakers.  
Then, feeling warm and cozy, a sensation she had long forgotten, the younger dark fairy said, “Thrum thrum me.”  
“Yes, my Little One,” the elder dark fairy said sweetly, and touching their horns together, she let their magical energy fields flow and overlap. Their heartbeats formed an intense, humming field, and glowing light filled the room. Pictures of the past were created, and the younger sorceress smiled as she recalled the time she had used her most dangerous spell, the time travel alteration, to create a fracture in time and space just large enough for her and Aura to slip through into the Yaga’s own bubble of eternity. The elder dark fairy listened and watched in wonder; she had no idea what had really happened, or how her magical energy field had been restored and her heart strengthened. “It was you,” she said in amazement. “You used a time fracture spell for me?”  
“I thought it worth any risk,” she answered. “After all, if you hadn’t lived, I wouldn’t have either. I’ve seen the alternate time lines. If you die, Aurora always returns to Phillip, and they get married and have three uninspiring sluggards for children. He never becomes a wizard, she never learned healing, and the old hag eats your body. It’s quite gruesome, I assure you.”  
“I would rather not see any such thing,” the dark fairy laughed softly, touching the long green fingers, tipped with bright crimson painted claws. “I am however in awe of your powers. The ability to teleport is unusual, and to move through time is amazing. Oh, it is no wonder the wizard insisted upon educating you, and camped at the base of my tree for seven years!” she laughed tearfully.   
“It is not so difficult to begin,” the younger sorceress said, “But very hard to complete. It is like one of those math problems that acquires too many solutions. There comes a point at which one must guess, and that is the end for the wise time traveler.” She paused, thinking darker thoughts, “That is why I could never avoid marrying him. In almost every alternation, it happened. It always happened…” she thought back, still wondering if there were any way to prevent that experience. That horrible, mind altering expanse of horror that had burnt her mind and left her a wisp of anger and little else.  
“Mallie, my dear Little One… Do I finally have you back? In mind and soul?”  
“At first it was the sights and sounds that terrified me. Then, I began to understand what was going on around me, and that was far worse. They told me I would be a queen, not a slave, but there wasn’t any real difference, not for an outsider. His mother was charming before she had me in her power, in their house. Then it was very different, and everything that had looked enticing was really horrible. Even their appearances; at first she seemed like an auburn beauty, and her son delightful, but that is not what they were at all…” She trailed off, not wanting to think about the red haired she-devil.  
“She was forever trying to trick me into going with her. She promised her husband a pretty plaything in exchange for her own freedom, and one night in the witch’s hut, she showed me her fantasies. That she wanted to do cruel things was not surprising, the part that amazed me is how she pretended to be my friend in the morning!”  
“But there’s something I’m forgetting…” she trailed off in her thoughts. “It’s not this, it’s something else…” Hearing a commotion outside, and the screeching of her pet raven, she sat up, freeing herself from her mother’s almost serpentine grasp, “It is…” she looked out the window as the sun was beginning to set, and heard the ravens cawing loudly to one another about the end of the day on the sixteenth year…   
Diablo flew in, and reported to his mistress what he had seen that day; pink and blue sparkle puffs out in the forest, flying up out of a tree that had a chimney in it. He was nearly certain that they were Flora and Merriweather’s pixie sparkles.  
“The sleeping death curse! I almost forgot!” Then she made an anguished noise and shrieked, flying into a rage.  
“No!” Maleficent told her daughter, “No! Let them go, let them all go, it doesn’t matter! None of them matter! No! They are like the crows in the trees! Stay here with me!”  
“You tricked me!” the young sorceress accused, the air crackling around her. “You tricked me!”  
“Don’t go…”  
“You distracted me with your stories, hoping to help the princess! You’re on her side! You always have been!”  
“No, Mallie…” she gave an exasperated cry as the young sorceress vanished. She sighed and picked up one of the cleaner, clearer crystal balls from the dirty piles of debris on her daughter’s bedroom floor. Enchanting and activating it, she screamed and winced as the crystal threw off its own memories, of Aura and Mallie together, and shielding her eyes she said, “Do not show me that, spirit in the stone! You will display only the location young Maleficent has gone to.” The crystal obediently displayed the scene of Princess Aurora’s new bedroom, the girl sitting at her dressing table, looking in the mirror while the three pixies fluttered around and conjured a magical crown for her. Then the girl burst into tears yet again, and the pixies left the room. The sorceress appeared, and cast a spell from the fireplace. The girl immediately fell under her power, and standing up, her cloak and most of her clothes fell off, leaving only the magical crown and a light gown. “Oh, dear!” the elder dark fairy exclaimed, as she watched the events through the crystal. However, instead of the deflowering and possible killing she would have anticipated after that spell, Mallie lead the girl up a long unused stairway to a spinning wheel, which she commanded the princess to touch, while the pixies flew around like confused bees unable to find the entrance to the hive. She watched as Mallie coaxed the princess into touching the spindle of the spinning wheel. Enchanted, the young princess curiously touched the strange object, and then slumped to the floor as if dead. The sorceress’ shrieking laughter carried through even the crystal, and the elder dark fairy shook her head. The three pixies, finally finding their way around the simple spiral stairway to the tower, rushed into the room and began an altercation. Then with another peal of maniacal laughter, young Maleficent vanished, unaware that her mother was watching her through the crystal ball, and she reappeared where Diablo had described to her, at the pixie’s cottage.  
“Oh, Mallie!” Maleficent exclaimed, “What will you do now, to make matters worse?” she considered flying over to the treehouse to try to reason with her, but doubted that would be very useful, even if she could arrive soon enough to prevent a disaster. If she didn’t listen to her mother before, she wasn’t going to there, in the midst of whatever scheme she had planned. It would have been better, she thought, if the sorceress had visited earlier and fallen under the influence of the young princess’ blessing of belovedness, but she hadn’t. Her hatred was too entrenched, and she would have killed the girl if she could have. And it was all so unnecessary, she thought to herself. Watching the crystal, she saw a young prince captured as he came looking for romance, and after casting another spell, the sorceress and her prisoner reappeared in the dungeons below. Meanwhile, at the castle, Aurora slept in her beautiful bed of fine silk and satin, secluded up in a high tower, and the pixies decided to put everyone in the castle to sleep, so that the king and queen wouldn’t find out what had happened. Maleficent put the crystal down and groaned. Why didn’t the idiot pixies just notify the king and queen, certainly one of whom loved their daughter enough to awaken her with an affectionate kiss? Why indeed, she wondered, had the fools even made kisses and true love part of the equation? Or just thought to do what she herself had done, and decreed that the sleeping spell would last only a brief time? Or just kiss the princess themselves! But no, even if Aurora awoke from the original curse at midnight, as the elder dark fairy had decreed, she was now under the pixies’ castle-wide Group Death sleeping spell. The stupid pixies had learned nothing, and every action they made worsened matters. Then she stood up, and decided to put a stop to whatever was going to happen next, starting with whatever the younger dark fairy was doing in the dungeon. Her daughter’s rage and insanity might cause her to do something truly regrettable. By the time she reached the stairway to the lower halls, Mallie was walking back up, looking quite pleased and humming to herself, Diablo on her shoulder. “What did you do?” she asked.  
“With what?” she asked, mystified.  
“You took a young man prisoner from the cottage. What did you do with him?”  
“Chained up,” was the chipper, flippant response. “For a hundred years he shall remain in the dungeon, and then I shall let him go free, to rescue his true love! Then, after the wizened old creature awakens his beloved with a kiss, and she sees him, then, oh yes,” she cackled, “Yes, then will her torments begin! I still have the avenging of my little lost Rapunzel to enjoy, and savor it I shall! For a hundred years! Each will know how the other suffered,” she laughed, brushing past her mother and ignoring the expression on her face. “Revenge is a dessert best served cold.”  
“Mallie dear,” Maleficent informed her, “Usually humans don’t live that long.” She watched the younger sorceress shrug her shoulders and continue walking back up to her dilapidated palace, humming contentedly all the while. Sighing, she looked around, and was reminded just how much she didn’t like being in the lower levels of the old watch tower. Despite all the repairs and redecorating they had done years ago, the fortress had once again fallen into extreme disrepair, and she was worried that should the building begin to collapse, there was no chance she could fly into the air before one of the massive old stones fell on her. It was every house’s destiny, she thought, from the humblest hut to the most lavish palace, to fall apart as expensively as possible. That was one of the reasons why she had never wanted one. But, she admitted to herself, the older she became, the more faults she found with her nest, only starting with the rain and other inclement weather. She didn’t like wind, bugs, or unexpected cracking branches either. Sleeping indoors was often more comfortable.  
One of the many yellow-eyed goblins who stood there watching asked, “Should we untie him?”  
“No, that will only make her angry,” Maleficent answered with a sigh, “But I will ensure that he has food and water, and doesn’t freeze to death in a cold, stone prison.” She searched the dungeon, and looking into a cell, she noticed an old dwarven axe left atop a bloody beheading block. She wondered how and when that had gotten there, and what they had used it for. Then she shook her head, knowing Aura it was something she wouldn’t want to discover. Looking around in the darkness, a sole human figure stood in contrast to the great, dismal stone walls. Indeed, it was a handsome young prince chained to a wall in one of the prison cells, so the elder fairy conjured and brought him some food, water, and a light, sedative tea, then loosening his chains enough so that he could either sit or stand, and feed himself. He seemed to think she was some sort of demon, and called upon the forces of good to protect him from the evil approaching.  
“Young man,” the fairy answered, “Your situation is not good, and I will not lie to you and say that it is. However, my daughter is fickle and forgets things for years at a time. It is quite possible that she will not remember you are here, and in that case, I might in the future be able to free you. But for now, eat your supper and hope for the best.”  
But instead of speaking to her, he prayed to God for aid and deliverance, and recoiled from her.   
Thinking that she had done what little she might do without making the situation any worse, she left him and went upstairs, where she found her daughter sitting in her throne room, sulking moodily while her goblins celebrated, dancing around a great bonfire. She was petting Diablo’s head and staring out into nothingness. Maleficent sat down beside her, and started to make conversation, which she wondered if the younger dark fairy even heard. So she sat there in the darkness, quietly drinking wine while the strange yellow-eyed creatures chanted a victory song and whirled round the fire. Her daughter stared morosely into the flames, occasionally muttering to herself. As the night wore on, the elder dark fairy began to feel sleepy, and closed her eyes for what she thought would be a moment, and fell asleep.  
The young sorceress glanced away from her staring into the fire, and noticed that Mother was leaning against the side of the throne, her eyes closed and breathing slowly and deeply, probably passed out from the wine. She smiled, and suddenly had a fine idea. She had a prisoner in her dungeon, and what was the point of having prisoners if not to play with them? Now that she wasn’t supervised by the elder fairy, this would be a perfect time to enjoy some pleasures of her own device. Even the lonely dark fairy Maleficent, high up in her precarious, decrepit fortress, far away from fine company, parties, or court gossip, had heard the stories about Philanderous Prince Philip, who found a girl or lady everywhere he went. It would indeed be a shame to miss out on the talents of such a famous guest here in the tower. A smile slowly spread across her face, and she stood up quietly so as not to wake Mother, who wouldn’t approve of that sort of fun at all. Silently, she made her way down the dark stone stairways to the dungeon. The cell was dark as a midnight without any moon or stars, until she conjured a ball of green fairy fire, and noticed that the prince was trying to sleep, in a sort of crouched-squirrel pose on the stone. She had observed the half-devils sleeping in every possible place and position, including standing up and face down in the mud, while creatures trampled past them. Perhaps human men were the same way, she wondered. Curious, she tapped her staff on the floor, making a cracking sound, which immediately awakened him. He startled and stood up. Maleficent thought she had chained him up tighter than that, but then she hadn’t brought him tea, either. She noticed the cups and plate, and recognized the meddling of Mother. “Comfortable?” she asked slyly. “I hope you are enjoying our hospitality.”  
“Scarcely, Witch!” he finally answered, apparently having discovered that silence wasn’t getting him anywhere before.  
“So you’ve decided to talk. That was wise of you. From what I have heard, you both speak and sing to pretty ladies everywhere you go, Philanderous Prince Philip.” He just stared at her as she regarded him critically. He was handsome, true, but not terribly charming. He seemed more of an irritating hothead, like his father King Hubert. It must be the title and the gold, she decided, unless he was truly that talented. Or maybe it was just pixie magic covering up the truth of the younger, future King Hubert. “So which is it?” she asked, “Do they want your gold or your virtue?” she laughed.  
“How dare you address me so, Witch?”  
“Perhaps I am interested.”  
“You’ll get neither!”  
“Yes, you are a pompous, blustering creature, like your father,” Maleficent said. “Let us hope that it is not your fate to someday resemble him! But, here in my dungeon, we will keep you slim and trim! I do believe there is a rhyme in your honor,” she laughed, “Philanderous Prince Philip, finds a woman wherever he goes. From sea to sea, mile after mile, leaving bastards aplenty among the rank and file.” She laughed as he struggled against his chains. “I say,” she smiled, “You would strike me, if you could! That is hardly gentlemanly behavior.”  
“You are no lady, vile sorceress! Witch! Whore of Hell!”  
Her eyes flew open at that accusation, wondering if he could know anything about that, but then she realized that it must simply be a common human insult. Certainly, she thought, a very strange one. A whore in the Abyss was a miserable creature, indeed. But many things about humans mystified her. “That is no way to speak.” Then she paused, and said, “So tell me of your plan to remain virtuous after your marriage to the lovely Princess Aurora, asleep in her tower. Most wondrous fair, she is, but you’ll not see her for a hundred years. Such a pity that your talents will all go to waste.”  
He seemed to calm down a bit, and then said, “Well, I’ll let you give me a netherkiss, but you’ll not get anything more than that, Witch.”  
She erupted into laughter, leaning on her staff to avoid falling over, she was laughing so hard. If her eyes could have made tears, she would have cried. He looked perplexed, not quite imagining what was so unearthly funny. After all, he always let ugly girls give him oral sex, but didn’t want to do anything more with them, and they were always ecstatic and grateful for the opportunity. This evil, wicked fairy, who was not only unattractive by his standards, but crazy as well, was howling with laughter at him for the suggestion.   
“I’m honoring you,” he informed her, which resulted in another round of hysterical laughter.  
“What?” she choked. “Honoring? However is that an honor?”  
“You get to be with me,” he answered, becoming offended by her constant laughing. His confusion and annoyance only made her laugh louder. “Listen, you crazy, ugly, cackling thing, I will not have sex with you!”  
That quelled her mirth. “A smarter man would barter for his release,” she informed him. “Only a true idiot would stand there chained up in a dungeon refusing to indulge his captor, and insulting her instead. I think maybe I have done your kingdom a favor, keeping you here and away from ruling anything. Perhaps when that moron Hubert chokes to death on a hambone, someone more intelligent will succeed him.”  
“Now you insult my father, you fiend!”  
“Tell me he’s not shoveling some roast beast into his maw with both hands like a drunken dwarf or a starving animal. Behold,” she said, and swirled her hand over the crystal ball on the end of her staff, the interior of King Stephan’s castle appeared, decorated and elegantly set for a grand feast and a great celebration; the Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday and welcoming home party. Freshly baked breads and pies, roast chickens, turkeys, pigs, and goats graced the tables along with fruits, fritters, herbed sauces and caramelized mushrooms. Servants scurried about with more, and served the guests spiced wine and mead, or a hearty ale, according to the wishes of each. The prince’s mouth began to water, the plain bread and weak tea the winged demoness had given him earlier scant nourishment. She moved the crystal, and instantly an image appeared, of King Hubert, a massive turkey leg in each hand. He took a huge bite out of each, then threw them over his shoulder for the dogs, and seized up a large pastry, shoving the entire thing into his mouth, which he then washed down with a gulp from his flagon. The sorceress continued her laughter, as the king then looked in delight upon a roast pig, and ripped a large piece off, his eyes sparkling in anticipation. “While you languish in my dungeon, he feasts upon roast pig and sweetmeats.”  
“My father is a great man,” Philip answered with all the dignity he could muster.  
“Great, as in enormous and hard to get around?” the sorceress laughed, “Like that stone behind you?”  
“My father is a wealthy, respected man who rules over a vast and important kingdom,” Philip informed her. “He does not need to impress some gruesomely ugly, dirty, cackling, slatternly sorceress dwelling far from civilization in a filthy, tumbledown tower filled with trash and her horrid, queer little devil-spawn.”  
“Sit down on the damn stone!” she commanded him. Since it was a spell, he had little choice in the matter. Everything about his voice and manner at that moment irritated her, and she was infuriated by the fact that he had immediately noticed that the half-devils had her yellow, dragon’s eyes. Somewhere, she thought, he must have seen goblins that didn’t, and knew the difference. She was forever grateful that Mother did not; she could identify ogres by smell alone, but didn’t seem to be very aware of goblins or half-devils. “I don’t much care for your tone,” she told him. “I would also like to remind you who is currently chained up in the dungeon of said tower, and who has the power to release him.” Then something occurred to her, “What gifts did the so-called good fairies bestow upon you at your christening?”  
“Why do you want to know, Witch-fiend?”  
“The creatures you call good fairies and I name as blasphemous traitors, the three pixie sisters Flora, Fauna and Merriweather, blessed the pretty maid of whom you love so true with beauty, song, and to be awakened by true love’s kiss. They blessed many princesses with those same gifts, to my knowledge. My sister bestowed upon me the gift of sensual beauty, and I gave her the gift of orgasmic touch. She can cause intense pleasure at a mere wisp of her fingertip. The sight of her alone has been known to make men swoon and die for her. There are many types of gifts, Philip.”  
“Odd sort of gifts for sisters to be giving each other,” he thought aloud, raising one eyebrow. Then again, he thought, they were evil fairies, it only made sense that they did wicked sorts of things together. He wondered suddenly if there were any male fairies, or if they were all female. There had to be, didn’t there? Then again, he’d heard old stories about a race called the Dwarves, who were all male. Their sons sprang from rocks and holes in the ground. Nor did he find it ironic that he was faulting her for what was actually one of his favorite pastimes. Sisters, especially twins, were a special treat, even for a handsome prince, and lots of fun.  
“Indeed,” she agreed, “And the three ‘good fairies,’ also blessed my beautiful sister with nearly the same gifts they gave your princess; beauty, song, and beloved by all; as well as to never be blue. She would never know an unhappy moment, and would be joyful all of her days. Interestingly enough, accountability never entered their minds. She charms, sings, and enchants all who behold her, including me, without ever once feeling a moment of regret or guilt for her actions.” Looking into the crystal again, she showed the young prince an image of Aura as she had been at sixteen, a golden haired, white winged angel. “A vision of loveliness too fine for any mortal man,” His eyes opened wide, and the dark fairy added, “She is the perfect monster.” Then she showed him Aura as she had been as a little girl, making the Olverung sing, and he shuddered.  
“I got the standard little boy set, I suppose,” Philip said, “Handsome, strong, and brave.”  
“Wouldn’t something like the ability to become invisible have been more useful? Or perhaps flying? Couldn’t you use a talent like that?”   
“I suppose, but if God had intended for men to fly He would have given us wings.”  
“Instead, he sent you foolish pixies and a fat man for a father. Quite a bargain.”  
He clapped his hands over his ears, “The serpent speaks! The serpent speaks…”  
“Don’t be a fool,” she scolded, tapping him on the head with her staff. “At least no more than you can help! I have noticed that intelligence is not a gift the pixies are capable of giving.”  
“Begone from me, foul spirit of darkness!”  
“Why?”  
He looked askance at her, and noticed that she wasn’t really so ugly after all. She was very tall, extremely thin, with strange horns and freakish eyes, but her overall appearance wasn’t bad. “Tempt me not,” he concluded, “Foul strumpet of Hell! I have seen firsthand the gifts you give!” He had been eight years old when the Princess Aurora was born, and his father had brought him to the christening, supposedly for a big, fun birthday party, and then he had been informed that he was betrothed to the infant princess. It was not what any eight year old boy wanted to hear. When he looked into that cradle and beheld the toothless, drooling wonder that smelled like milk and pee, he had made a face. Then he had to sit there bored as any little boy could ever be, and look happy while the good fairies gave their gifts, wishing he could leave, and then, huzzah! The evil fairy had appeared out of nowhere, and scared everyone. It had been quite easy to hide behind Hubert’s ample girth, and so he doubted the evil fairy had even noticed he was there. Best of all, the boring ceremony was over after the wicked fairy left.  
She took her headdress off, and her long dark hair tumbled down, wavy and curled at the ends, from having been wound around her horns under the covering. Removing the collar, she smiled, and he realized that her costume was just that; a disguise. The horns and yellow eyes remained, but it was like meeting her anew. He was quite surprised to see that she was beautiful. Not like a princess, but in a very different way, in an alluring, deep, knowing way that made him want to discover what came next. “Why?” she asked again, pulling her hair back over her pointed ears.   
“You are a demoness, tempting me into sin.”  
That made her smile. “To get a reputation like Philanderous Prince Philip, you had to have sinned quite a bit, yourself! No, I am the winner. The most intelligent person in any situation will eventually be in control. You are the champion of fools and liars, who have manipulated you before you were even born. I know all too well those whom you call good fairies. I have witnessed generations of humans, fighting one another for false renown and bits of gold. Do you want to walk out of here sooner or later? Wiser and more powerful, or a broken old man?” She undid the fasteners on her robes, and the outer ones fell away, revealing her arms, and the upper portion of her breasts. She breathed deeply, she had plenty of experience in dungeons, but in all of those events, she had been the one chained, or just one of a chorus of the damned, standing by to look pretty or pathetic while the main action occurred without her. She touched his arm, and admired his body; so young and strong! What a credit it would be to her magic, if she could but steal his youth and strength, enjoying it all the while, and then release him to rescue the princess! It need not be a hundred years, she smiled, a mere thirty would do it; the sixteen year old princess would shun an older man in disgust. If he grew to love her, and was pained to leave and go do his duty, that would be even better. He was a man, and so he stared at her, and there being little else in the dungeon, he did not look away. “To what use handsomeness, bravery, and strength?” she asked.  
“What do you mean?”  
She stood before him and held up her hands in a gesture of amazement. “What is it for? For what reason were you given those gifts? Why was your betrothed, the dear, sweet princess, given gifts like beauty and a lovely voice? They gave my sisters such blessings, which were summarily rejected by my mother and the wizards, who preferred gifts like common sense. I will tell you why. So that she might attract the man they chose for her. Nothing more. You were similarly anointed. Not for your own well-being, but for those that seek to control you, and to make the young woman they chose for you desire you in return. If they cared for your heart, mind and soul, wouldn’t they give more substantial gifts?”  
“And what gifts did they give you?” he asked, catching her by surprise.  
“None,” she answered, “Nothing from the so-called good fairies. They thought I was too strange and ugly. Interesting, don’t you think? They gave beauty to pretty little babes who didn’t need it, and nothing to one who did. My mother gave me intelligence, and her friends the wizards gave me common sense and the ability to easily read and speak all languages. They didn’t seek to control me, but rather to free me. But they didn’t see the one person who did; my twin sister, the Queen of Peace, whose proper term of address should be the Maiden of Pain.”   
“You cannot mean that you are the Queen of Peace’s twin sister? That is preposterous!”  
“Is it? Is it really? They thought that they could use her, they couldn’t use me. That’s why I am left here, alone. Remember, I told you of the gifts she and I gave each other.”   
He knit his brow and leaned back despite her ever-increasing beauty, which was becoming overwhelming. No longer strange or alien, she was alluring and fascinating, moving her arms in an extremely graceful and hypnotic way. The dim scenery of the dungeon faded away as well, to become an infinite starscape. As she let the inner red skirt beneath her gown fall away, and she began to dance, he could see her legs, and was stunned. Her feet were odd, her toes were as long as a normal person’s fingers, and a strange color, but she moved with such grace that it was a shame she had ever covered herself to begin with. The outer black covering floated away, and she danced like an undersea creature floating in the current, the remaining light purple shift covering her thinly, like violet smoke. Loveliness like that was meant to be seen and enjoyed. “Pardon my saying, but those are damn strange gifts for sisters to give each other.”  
“Are they?” she asked, running her hands through his nut-brown hair and feeling the magical charming added to his natural good looks. “That depends upon what those sisters wanted to accomplish.”  
He laughed, as she leaned near to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, and he was treated to a display of her small but luscious breasts. Then he grinned suddenly, remembered many parties past, and said, “I like sisters. I’ve had sisters before, and a pair of twins. I could definitely enjoy a special event like that,” he smiled. “One dark haired with horns, and one beautiful blond angel.”  
She smirked, “I think my sister might be a bit overwhelming, even for such an experienced lover and connoisseur of carnal delights as yourself.” She laughed slightly, just imagining how terrified Prince Philip would be when Aura started transforming parts of her body and restraining him with tentacles. Feelers exploring uncharted areas of his body would probably not excite him, either. But he didn’t know that. Like everyone else, he thought she was a true goddess of light, an angel from the heavens who only brought goodness and joy to her followers.  
He smiled, not very likely, he thought. Meeting the Queen of Peace instead of her crazy sister would be the highlight of his life. “So what were you hoping to accomplish?”  
“I wanted magical knowledge, wisdom, and the power that came from arcane lore the wizards couldn’t or wouldn’t teach me,” she whispered in his ear, leaning forward, and rubbing her shin against his crotch, her fingers running up and down his body, causing twinkles of sensation, her dark hair falling into his face and smelling of musty old flowers. She breathed deeply, and he did as well, matching her sensuousness. He thought she smelled a bit moldy, and had a lingering odor of blood, until he lifted his own arms and caught the overripe manly scent of many days on the road, all unbathed. Fortunately, part of the magical gift of handsomeness had been that his stubble was imperceptible between shaves, and his hair always stayed put just so. Unfortunately, it was all visual, and didn’t extend to the sense of smell.  
He put his arms down and laughed, “Whoa, I smell like a draft horse! I’m sorry, I haven’t bathed in quite some time.”  
“I won’t judge you based on that,” she said, her sensuous, rose-red lips meeting his. Tingles of excitement ran up and down his body with her long but extremely sensitive fingertips. When she pulled his leggings down, he was fully erect and waiting for the rest of her whore’s touch, as he admired her beautiful scarlet lips and long, dark hair falling in ringlets almost to the floor. In the dim light, her eyes weren’t strange any longer at all, but rather were immense and dark, pools of deep sensation that she was willing to share with him, as well as the rest of her body. As her hands traveled all over him, from his broad shoulders down to his breeches, sending shivers of anticipation shooting and tingling with every teasing stroke and breath, he smiled proudly as she discovered the reason for his overwhelming popularity with the ladies.   
He grinned, “They’re not just after my gold, Witch! Most men brag about length, without realizing that diameter is more important.”  
She contained a howl of laughter, and instead smiled and answered, “Indeed,” while fondling him, and kneeling on the stone above him, her violet shift floating around her like a cloud while her long, nimble fingers wrapped around his pride and joy, “A valiant figure, straight and tall!”   
“You should give it love’s first kiss,” he grinned.  
She laughed, truly amused, and said, “Perhaps I shall use other skills.” There were bits of magic sparkling in the air, the result of a fairy fire spell that disguised their dismal surroundings nicely, creating an enchanted wonderland of sounds, lights and colors. Lowering herself down gently, she guided him in, and they both moaned softly, as she moved slowly and deliberately, pleasuring herself with the obliging captive.   
“Slide down all the way,” he breathed, feeling the tortuous sensation of incompletion.   
“Patience,” she hummed, pulling the smoky veil aside, so he could see what was occurring as she slid ever so slowly over the upper length of his shaft.   
He was fascinated by the sight of himself entering the sorceress, his flushed, pinkish-tan human skin against her strange, grayish coloring, which looked slightly greenish when compared to the beige of his skin and the diaphanous violet veil, and especially by the gleaming, golden ring that pierced her lady parts. It seemed to beg him to chain her up by it, and he began to imagine all the exquisite tortures he could extract from her if that were ever possible. His hands were still chained, but he could just barely reach far enough to touch her. Putting his hands on her hips, he realized that they were even smaller than he had at first thought; she was very slight, and extremely thin. If he could only get his arms to move freely, and just stretch the chains a bit further, he could easily break any number of her light, birdlike bones. Straining, he could think about it, picture it, but he couldn’t quite reach. She looked down and purred, a very soft, catlike rumble which surprised him, although he liked the vibrations from her body very much. They added an exquisite new dimension to how it all felt.  
“I don’t know what you’re doing or how,” he moaned, pushing her hips down as far as the chains would stretch, which was maddeningly little, “But I want to be all the way in!”  
“Mmmm…” she purred, giving a little, and then pulling back up most of the way, “Patience.” She breathed deeply, listening to him moan in anticipation, and then slid back down a little, and asked, “So you enjoy my purring?”  
“Very much,” he breathed, trying to arch his hips up off the stone, but he couldn’t get very far, and she lifted herself up as he did so, controlling the depth of penetration so it remained almost the same. “How are you doing that?” he asked in amazement.  
“I am dragon-born,” she answered vaguely, pulling up slightly, but squeezing tightly.  
“You’re torturing me!” he groaned.  
“Delicious, isn’t it?” she laughed, purring and looking down at where they were joined together, exploring the area with her fingertips. She felt him shoot a little inside of her, and then she asked, “Is that all the life you have in you? Will you expire so quickly in my tender care?”  
“Oh no,” he grinned, “That was just to lift the lid and let off a little steam from a boiling pot. If you want more, slide down on it.”  
“Hmmm…” she sighed, sliding up and down on the upper half again. “Beg me,” she purred.  
“Please, please, put it all the way in!”  
“When?” she asked softly, sliding down slightly.  
“Now! Oh, please, put it in now!”  
With a very satisfied purr, she slowly complied, and relished his satisfied groans, adding to them with a loud sigh of her own. She ground against him for a moment, enjoying the sensation of fullness within herself, and then pushed back up again, relishing even more the anguished moans as he wanted more. “Was that nice?” she smiled and asked rhetorically.  
He moaned again and said, “If I weren’t chained up, I’d bend you over this damn stone and do you so hard, every which way!”  
She laughed, “Maybe that’s why you’re chained up.”  
“Evil, sadistic witch,” he sighed, “You’re torturing me!”  
“And very well, too,” she purred, sliding back down and sighing. She squeezed him tightly, and then enjoyed her own first climax, shivering in pleasure and purring loudly. Then she continued to squeeze and grind against him until he groaned and climaxed, too, breathing deeply and feeling her purring echoing through his body as he shot heavily and hard.  
He breathed deeply, regaining his senses. He was still inside of her, enjoying the warmth, wetness, and vibrations, but now at least he could think again, instead of desperately straining for that first release. He’d always had a firm belief that the best part of life was the three or four strokes right before an orgasm. Maybe, he thought, some of the belovedness that he’d been blessed with was working on her. It sure worked on every other woman, and underneath all those dark, intimidating robes she was very much a woman. A very strange, mystifying woman, who had weird talents like magic and purring, but she might still fall under his spell of being beloved by all who knew him. She certainly liked his manhood, and had already fallen under its’ own special spell. All the courtesans and ladies of the night did, he smiled, plus a few naughty princesses. She was grinding against him, and being young, strong, and blessed, he was still very much erect. Looking at her, she was extremely beautiful, sighing softly with her eyes closed and head tilted to the side, experiencing another climax of her own. He waited until the intensity of her pleasure had subsided a little, and then said, “Unchain me. I want you down on the floor, so I can take you like a stallion.”  
She smiled slyly and shook her head, no, dark curls bouncing around her shoulders and swaying around her hips and ankles, like the violet shift. “I’m perfectly happy right where I’m at.”  
“I’m not,” he answered, “I can’t get all the way inside of you, or have a really fantastic peak because my cullions can’t swing freely. What I really want is to take you from behind. My ass is sore, too, from sitting on this hard stone. Come on, unchain me, and we’ll finish up somewhere more comfortable.” He smiled then, and hoped that all his blessings were working the way they usually did. She should be falling in love with him about now, and if he could just get her to unchain him, then he might be able to escape. Especially, he thought, if she would close her eyes again. She had scrawny little bird bones that would crack with any real pressure, he was certain of it. Indeed, he mused, if he could just grab her by the horns, breaking her neck would be simple. He smiled broadly, “Come on, undo these chains and let’s have some real fun.”  
She laughed at him, pulling her hair out of her face, and thought that while he was good-looking enough, he certainly wasn’t her definition of charming. He also thought that he was a lot smarter than he really was. There was no chance that she was going to unbind him and then turn her back on him! It was easy enough to foresee how that would end! She doubted he would be the sleeping princess’ idea of perfection either, if she ever got to know him. Young Hubert, she laughed. Perhaps marrying her handsome prince was the cruelest fate after all, she laughed, just thinking about it. No fairy curses were needed, being married to a young Hubert was torment enough for any woman! Having finished with him, she found the contact between their bodies strange and alien feeling.   
“Come on,” he coaxed, “Just undo the chains and I’ll really make you purr.”  
“Or you could say thank you,” she laughed.  
“Or you could thank me by letting me go.” He looked at her, feeling a sudden sense of revulsion; that this evil creature should be on top of him. The connection between them was quickly growing as cold and slimy as the bodily fluids that had leaked out of her onto his breeches.   
“I think we both know that’s not going to happen,” she said, sliding off of his lap, and standing up well out of his reach. The starscape faded away, to be replaced by the dank, depressing dungeon walls, the enormous stones immovable in their ancient solidity. She didn’t look at him as she put her clothes back on, affixing her headdress and collar. There was fluid running down her leg, and she wasn’t sure if it was loathsome or not, yet.   
“Woman, you’ve got what you wanted, so just unchain me.”   
She looked back at him as she breathed heavily, tired from her efforts, and took up her staff again, “I think not.”  
“Why not?” Why wasn’t she falling in love with him? She should be swooning, like most girls, trying to get him to marry her, talking about true love, and all of that. But she wasn’t, she was just looking at him strangely. Maybe she was really some sort of dragon-creature, and couldn’t fall in love. Then he had a quick notion that if he could just grab one of her horns, he could force her to unlock the handcuffs. “Could you at least pull my breeches up for me? I can’t quite reach.”  
“Although there is great humor value in leaving them that way, I will put them back the way I found them.” She reached forward with one long-toed foot, and pulled the waistband back up, and gave him a strange look. She was fairly confident he could have pulled his own pants up.  
“What’s that for?” he asked, disappointed. “And what are you, anyway? How come you have horns and can purr? What is dragon-born?”  
“So many questions,” she mumbled, feeling very awkward and strange. She had never excelled at social interactions, and having achieved her objective, she was at a loss as to what to do afterward. Playing with her captive had grown old, and now she was tired. “We will speak again, tomorrow.”  
“Does that mean your mother had sex with a dragon?”  
She glared back at him and sighed, “Not exactly, not in the way you are perhaps thinking of it.”  
“Well, did she? That winged woman is your mother, isn’t she? So how did she possibly lie with a dragon? They’re kind of big for that, aren’t they? I’m surprised it didn’t eat her. I thought…” He paused, and trying to figure it all out, he knit his brows and looked like he was trying to poop.   
She laughed and smirked, apparently idiots had so many unformed thoughts that whenever they tried to consider something a backlog constipated the entire effort, resulting in considerable strain. “Are you at all familiar with dragons?”  
“By word, not by deed,” he answered.  
“Then perhaps you have heard of virgin princesses, beautiful maidens, and the like, left out for dragons?”  
Philip’s jaw dropped in horrified amazement, “Dragons want them for that? I thought they just wanted to eat them!”  
She regarded him curiously, “And being eaten is so much better?”  
“I’d rather be eaten than raped by a dragon!” he said.  
She rolled her eyes and said, “Duly noted. Good night, fair prince.”   
“But your eyes! You purr!” he stammered. “Your monstrous spawn have the eyes of a dragon as well! Don’t you turn around while I’m talking to you, woman!” he ordered. “Whore of Hell! Your mother was a wretched, wanton whore as well to conceive you with a dragon!”  
She paused briefly and said, “So you find it unacceptable for me to point out to you that your father is a disgusting, greedy fat man, yet spew insult after shameful epithet about my mother, who took some pity upon your ungrateful soul and both fed you and loosened your chains?” She turned and left the dungeon, closing the door carefully behind her, while he shouted more expletives about her mother being a whore from hell who had lain with dragons to conceive a monster. She shook her head, and decided that the famed Philanderous Prince Philip was stubborn as a mule and twice as stupid; definitely Hubert’s son. She went back up the steep, dark stairways leading to the upper palace ruins, hearing the last dying sounds of a party.  
The elder dark fairy was still asleep, turned in a barely semi-comfortable position, Diablo on her shoulder. She had been petting him before she fell asleep, and the half-devils were falling down around the bonfire, their celebratory glee expiring by the minute. She was awakened by odd cackling, and opening her eyes, saw her beautiful dark fairy daughter, gliding like a moonbeam across the dark floor with its tattered, stained purple carpet. Rubbing her long fingers with their red-painted nails together in excitement, her eyes were alive with delight, and she was absolutely lovely. Maleficent wondered for a moment, and then asked her what she had done. Clearly, she had been out doing something while the elder fairy had fallen asleep.  
“Nothing,” she smiled, “Only informed our steadfast prince that he will remain in my dungeon for a hundred years.” Then with a flick of her long fingers, she announced that she was going to bed.  
“Finally,” the older dark fairy grumbled, sitting up, and wishing she hadn’t fallen asleep. Not only had it given the younger fairy an opportunity to do something unsupervised, but now she felt stiff and chilled, to compound the sharp pain of the talon that had been ripped off of her wing. Her back frequently hurt, and so did her neck, especially if she fell asleep at an awkward angle. Injuries from long ago, the severing of her wings and the agonies inflicted upon her by the iron-wielding men and being murdered by the dwarves, had left her with some powerful, lingering aches as she aged. It was a strange fate, she sometimes thought, that after all these years, Stephan’s wounds still bothered her the most. She hoped that soon all this foolishness would be behind them, but somehow doubted it. However, instead of arguing, she simply followed her daughter up the stairs, and left the remaining goblins dancing round the fire, hoping they wouldn’t burn the place down. The tattered carpet might ignite fairly easily, but the walls were of stone. Unfortunately, she thought, the decrepit old tower probably had a better chance of simply falling over. She hoped that sleep would come quickly, but instead the younger dark fairy decided to stare into a crystal ball, watching the pixies still putting everyone in the castle to sleep with the princess.  
“Look, Mother,” the sorceress cackled, “Look what the fools are doing!”  
Maleficent sighed, “It would only be surprising if they had ever made any wise decisions to contrast with it.” She lay down alongside the younger fairy, who was sitting up in bed, viewing various castle scenes through the crystal, and howling with laughter at the foolish pixies. “Please, dear,” she exclaimed, “Your plans have succeeded, and you are victorious over the machinations of the meddlesome pixies. Now please rest upon your great success and go to sleep!”  
“Soon, soon,” she mumbled, and then changed the scene in the crystal to spying on her twin sister. Her expression immediately changed, as she watched the great throng of worshippers all crowded around the earthly goddess, sitting on the back of a dragon whom she had subdued with only her magical voice, and then she sang for their joy and delight. Moved to tears, all would lay down their lives for her, and no doubt, many would. The scene continued into a great celebration while the young sorceress’ face darkened. When, she wondered, would Aura finally return? Surely, she wouldn’t really stay away forever, would she? Would she, Maleficent wondered, her heart clenching. Aura, she thought, I love you. You are supposed to love me. Why don’t you? I did everything you asked, everything. Why have you so easily abandoned me? But she knew why, she simply didn’t want to accept it; because it was all an illusion. She could simply bow to Aura’s demands, and beg. Undertake the journey to wherever she was, kneel before her and plead to be a part of her life again, instead of blithely cast aside and ignored. To take her orders without question, to love Aura with her body and soul, to deceive herself into thinking that she was loved in return. Accept whatever torments or humiliations were visited upon her, so long as she too could remain in the goddess’ glorious presence, and feel the ecstatic ministrations of her touch. “No!” she screamed into the crystal, and hoped that Aura heard it. Then, staring into the crystal at the revelers who sang their beloved angel’s praises, she started scraping at herself with her long, painted claws. Rhythmic scraping of her arms brought some relief, until Mother started pulling at her hands and telling her not to.  
“Tomorrow, dear,” she was saying in her most soothing voice, “Tomorrow. Sleep now, and let your mind be eased…” Maleficent hadn’t cast a sleep spell upon any of her children since they were small, and the sorceress was the most magically resistant of them, but the strange, scraping trance she had put herself into made her vulnerable to the spoken spell; one of the strongest Maleficent had ever cast, but she was frustrated, uncomfortable, and tired, and so she wanted the younger dark fairy to please fall asleep quickly, and to dream deeply. Mercifully, she stopped clawing at herself and fell asleep. Knowing the spell might not last long, the elder dark fairy quickly then pulled one of the threadbare black embroidered quilts over her daughter, put a wing over them both, and then fell asleep herself.


	53. Of Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tired of people acting up, the elder Maleficent casts a powerful sleep spell on everyone. Then, Prince Philip escapes from the dungeon and the younger Maleficent turns herself into a dragon in an attempt to stop him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We see all of what happens in the 1959 version in this chapter, but from the perspective of Maleficent's mother.

Chapter 53  
Of Heroes

The sleeping spell was strong indeed, a powerful blast from a tired, disgruntled old dark fairy who was annoyed at herself for having fallen asleep earlier in the throne room in an awkward position, resulting in a backache. She began to dream, and because of the tremendous power of the fairy’s own sleepiness, her spell affected not only her daughter, but the prince chained down below in the dungeon, and the beautiful, cursed princess far away in her tower. In the dream that they all dreamt together simultaneously, the younger dark fairy slid down into her dungeon to visit the handsome young prince her minions had chained up. She regarded him with detached interest, and he rose to greet her.   
“Your Excellency,” he smiled. “I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced. I am Prince Philip of King Hubert’s realm, and the Queen Averill. Please don’t judge me by my father, my mother raised me to be a gentleman.”  
“Hello, Prince Philip,” she answered, “Are you aware of the fate of your beloved princess?”  
“Oh, there must be some mistake,” he said, “I’m betrothed to a princess, but I fell in love with a peasant girl. I’m not sure who you were looking for when your servants tied me up, but I’m the wrong person.”  
She laughed, “No, you are the correct person. See the gracious whim of fate…” Leaning her magical staff forward, she showed him the princess, who was the same peasant maid that he had met earlier in that day, and how after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel, she would sleep forever, until awakened by true love’s kiss.  
The prince considered this carefully. “So is she perfectly safe up there in that tower?”  
“The three pixies have cast an enchantment over the entire population of the castle. They shall all sleep with her. See, the foolishness of the pixies has no end! One might think that the king or queen loved their child enough to awaken her!”  
“That does seem rather pointless, yes,” the prince agreed, “So there she must remain until I arrive to awaken her with true love’s kiss. But, that will have to wait, as it seems I am more urgently required here. You are in far more desperate need of saving than the princess, and I am a hero.”  
“What?” she laughed. “What did you say?”  
“I am a hero, and saving people is what heroes do. If everyone there is asleep, they’ll be fine for a while, during which time I can save you from this lonesome, grim fate.”  
She was laughing so hard she sat down to avoid falling down. “I do not need saving! Do you even know who I am?”  
“Oh, I’ve seen you once or twice before, and at least a few times in dreams; first when I was a little boy, stuck in the dullest place imaginable. Just after they told me that I was going to marry the new princess, the three good fairies started bestowing their blessings. No little boy wants to hear that, and I was so bored I was trying to think up a way to escape when, huzzah! You really livened up that party!” he laughed.   
“Indeed,” she smiled, “And what were you thinking?”  
“I wondered why such a powerful, beautiful lady would take such an interest in a dull, mundane event like a baby’s christening. What happened to her to make her so upset? It’s been my observation that a so-called evil witch was a princess who wasn’t saved.”  
“Then you are indeed much smarter than your father,” she said.  
“So tell me, what is wrong? Is there anything I can do to help?”  
“Help? What?”  
“Anyone who lives in a tower about to slide down the hillside needs rather immediate help, in my opinion. If I know my history, this is the remains of the ancient watch tower of Dorthinion, destroyed by an ice dragon long ago. Maybe we could restore part of it; get those guys outside marching around with bows and spears to get some mops, brooms, and then mortar and trowels. It wouldn’t take too long, and then before you know it, the whole thing doesn’t wobble anymore! By the way,” he added, “How is my horse? His name is Samson, and he’s a very special animal, and he talks. Once in a lifetime a great hero can call for his warhorse, and the creature magically appears. It’s very important that he be taken care of.”  
“So it would seem.”  
The prince looked very worried and said, “Your men didn’t… eat him, did they?”  
“No,” she said, “Not yet, anyway.”  
“I will happily cook everyone something else,” he offered.  
“You are hoping that I shall remove the chains,” she observed.  
“Absolutely,” he agreed, “I’m not much use like this.”  
“I am not such a fool as that.”  
“Of course not,” he answered, “And I certainly didn’t mean to imply that you were. But someone needs to look after my horse, and I need to look after you.”  
“Why do you keep saying that?”  
“Well, something very, very bad must have happened to you to make you so lonesome and angry. What was it?”  
She was stunned, and looked askance at him. “Very well,” she said, “Are you aware that your beloved princess is a killer? Behold,” she said, and showed him a scene in the crystal of her staff from that long-ago morning when little Briar Rose had dragged newborn Rapunzel. “The Princess Aurora, in the spirit of fun drags my three day old baby to her death.”  
“That’s awful,” the prince said sadly, “That’s a terrible tragedy. But how did that even happen?”  
“The three pixies, ‘good fairies,’ as you have referred to them, stole her from my arms, and left her for the princess to find and mangle. Then, after her death, they hid her body under some bushes, hoping we would never discover the truth.”  
“That was very shameful and cowardly of the three fairies. Did they ever atone for her death?”  
“No, they did not.”  
“Then I will do something helpful. Because it was my betrothed, who inadvertently committed that terrible deed, I will give myself in her stead. I will be your servant, for as long as you require my help. I am at your service, forever if need be.”  
“You are willingly pledging yourself to be my servant, to atone for Rapunzel’s death? And you know the penalty for breaking such an oath?”  
“I do. I promise I will not run away. As I said earlier, I’m here to help, for as long as you need me.”  
“Very well,” she said, and unlocked his chains.   
“Thank you, your Excellency,” he said, rubbing his wrists, “And what do you want me to call you?”  
“Maleficent,” she smiled.  
“Very well, Maleficent,” he nodded. “Let’s get to work before this whole place slides off into the canyon!”  
To the dark fairy’s amazement, the prince was a tireless, cheerful, and competent worker. He honored his oath, and made no attempt to escape, but rather made it his responsibility to fix whatever was broken, which was more or less everything. He started by organizing the minions into a cleaning brigade, and they cleared out the massive midden heaps that had accumulated all around the tower, courtyard, interior, and dungeons. Finally clean, he started teaching the strange little soldiers how to do rudimentary stonemasonry. Additionally, he oversaw the cooking, and took care of his equine friend. The fairy, her minions, and her mother appreciated having tasty, flavorful meals, and in the evenings, the throne room and banquet hall restored to serviceability, the prince entertained them in the courtly arts of dance and music. He was surprised to discover that the younger dark fairy was a lovely, graceful dancer, moving slowly and magically on her long, slender toes, although she couldn’t dance for long until she had to sit down, and relied on her staff to lean on. When he asked, she told him about the childhood illness that had left her so weak and partially crippled. She was beautiful, once he was used to looking at her, and was no longer surprised by her glowing, golden dragon’s eyes. One night when he rubbed her sore feet after she had been dancing, she purred, which truly surprised him. In all that time, another wonderful thing was happening. She had stopped wearing her dark headdress and spiked collar, choosing instead the sort of gowns that her mother wore, and she smiled as she sat by her fireside, reading magical tomes and drinking tea or wine. The minions were clean, trained, and helpful, so she erupted into far fewer rages, and the prince listened to her talk, about some things that she had kept hidden from the world, and of her visit to the Abyss.  
One night, over seven years after he had arrived, as she giggled and he rubbed her feet by the fireside, she suddenly sighed and said, “Philip, I release you. Thank you for everything you have done for us, but I release you from my service.”  
“Oh, good,” he smiled, “In that case, let’s get ready to go! There’s still a very important matter we need to attend to.”  
“What?”  
“I’m still betrothed to the princess, but I love you, too, like a sister. Come with me, and we’ll go wake up Briar Rose, and I’ll explain everything, and then all three of our kingdoms will be united in friendship! This is going to a wonderful land…”   
The elder dark fairy smiled in her sleep, delighting in the fellowship and goodwill that the prince’s selfless sacrifice and hard work had wrought. Best of all, she had her daughter back, quiet and smiling, enjoying once again the pleasures of her youth, reading, dancing and magic. She was sampling the feast at the wedding banquet when she opened her eyes momentarily and sighed, realizing that she had only been dreaming. That was the hero they needed, she thought, so of course, no such thing was likely to happen. Unless, she pondered, there was some possibility of talking sense into that brash young man in the dungeon. She closed her eyes again, and tried to recapture the dream that the younger Maleficent was still enjoying, a slight smile on her face. Far yonder in the castle, the young princess slept, also dreaming the same dream, on and on. She smiled in her sleep at the very idea of meeting her handsome prince. Meanwhile, the elder dark fairy was thinking back on her own long-ago curses and behavior. Sleep eluded her as she thought long into the night, remembered things and shifting around, her thoughts alternating between the real world and the dreams she wished she was having. Finally, almost ready to cast a sleep spell upon herself, her eyes closed.  
She was awakened what seemed like only moments later by cawing and being stepped on as the younger Maleficent clambered over her to look out the window and howl in fury. “Whatever is the matter?” she asked in annoyance, ravens flapping around gossiping noisily to each other in loud voices. She hadn’t slept long enough or well enough to feel cheerful and patient, “Why are you shrieking like that?”  
But the sorceress ignored the question, and discovering her beloved pet raven Diablo was turned to stone, was beside herself with rage. “Be quiet, Mother!” she ordered, and looking over the ramparts on the walls outside of her bedroom, she shrieked for silence throughout the castle. Then, looking down from the window walk, she noticed the pixies, those miserable, miscreant pixies, had freed her captive from the dungeon! He was astride his white steed, racing for the exit that her idiot half-devils had left wide open during the party last night. “Close the gates!” she screamed, causing the half-devils sleeping on the job to startle awake and flail around for their weapons. But he ducked under it, and she aimed her staff at one of the rock walls, hoping to bring it down. He would have been crushed, but for the pixies transforming the rocks into bubbles, and her minions arrows into flowers. She screamed and aimed at the bridge, hoping to destroy it and prevent his leaving. Once again, the foolish pixies intervened.  
“Maleficent! Stop doing that…”  
“Don’t interfere!”  
“You’re not thinking straight! It doesn’t matter if he escapes or not…”  
“Silence Mother, and stop distracting me!”  
“Mallie, just let him go! It doesn’t matter and you’re going to send this old tower tumbling down into the chasm! It doesn’t…”  
She spun around and shouted, “You don’t fool me! You’re on the side of that wretched little princess, and you came here to distract me while the pixies enabled his escape!”  
“No! I am trying to help you! Please just calm down…” But her words were ineffective, and the enraged sorceress was beyond reason. When she attempted to put her hand on Mallie’s shoulder, the result was a shove and a blow from the magic staff. The elder dark fairy hadn’t felt very well to start with, and didn’t improve by being struck with a heavy staff. She was still catching her breath when the younger dark fairy screamed and cast a spell. She caused a massive wall of thorns to grow up around the castle in the distance.   
Then the angry sorceress turned around and hissed at her mother, “You traitor!”  
“Please calm down,” she said, in the most soothing voice she could.  
“You traitor! You’re hoping he falls in the love with the princess and wakes her up! So you kept me busy and cast a sleep spell upon me while he escaped! I should throw you in the dungeon with him!”  
Shaking her head she answered, “No, dear, it’s just a coincidence. Yesterday the sun set on the princess’ sixteenth birthday, after she pricked her finger on the spinning wheel. I’m here because I was visiting you two days ago and you beat me senseless, thinking that I was going to save her. Do you remember that?” She watched the suspicion swirl around in the younger woman’s mind, her eyes narrowing, and then she added, “Let me dispel the pixie magic from Diablo.” When there was no response, she put her hands on the stone bird, and blew gold smoke around it, dissolving the pixie enchantment. Blue sparkles fell downward, and she knew which one had done it. Alive again, the bird flapped his wings and cawed, flying over to the sorceress’ staff, his favorite perch, and his mistress began to pet him. The elder dark fairy sighed silently in relief, if the bird was on the staff, there was less chance of her daughter becoming unexpectedly enraged again and hitting her with it. She turned, and sending a cloud of blue and gold, caused the wall of thorns to thicken, and grow green and lush, with beautiful pink roses all over it. Intertwined with it were thick, thorny branches that bore large, luscious purple berries. “And there it will remain, for a hundred years,” she said sweetly. “The wall of wild roses and blackberries has such formidable thorns that they will keep out everyone and everything that does not have wings, and the kiss of a random young man, even a prince, isn’t true love. She will sleep. So take a deep breath, my dear, and relax. It’s over.” Her magic seemed to be working, as was the soothing motion of stroking her pet bird’s head. Taking a chance, she put her arms around her, and said again, “It’s over. So let’s have some tea and relax.” She let out an audible sigh when the younger dark fairy followed her back inside, and sat down on an old wooden chair. The stuffing was half pulled out of its cushions, Maleficent noticed, probably by birds using it to make nests. The sorceress clearly didn’t notice or care, however, and sat there listlessly, as though her mind had suddenly wandered off. So her mother made a simple herbal tea appear in two cups, both of which had long ago lost the gilt edging and the handles. Gripping it in her hand, Maleficent took a sip, and encouraged her daughter to do the same. She suddenly felt very tired, as though she had been pushing a boulder up a hill, and seeing that same weird, vacant stare in Mallie’s eyes, she had a weary feeling of being nowhere near the top.   
“Mother?”  
“Yes, dear?”  
“Do you think Aura will return? It has been over fourteen years.”  
“Perhaps, dear. Although I will be honest and say that I have not missed her.” The scene she had inadvertently witnessed in the crystal ball flashed through her mind, and she shuddered. That was the last thing she wanted to think about, and if they never saw Aura again, it would probably be for the best.  
“I watched her kill the Olverung.”  
She sighed, “That was long ago. There’s nothing to be done about it now. Would that the she-devil had never given that bird to your sister, but she did. Beware any gifts, words, or affections from devils.”  
“Why was it that way?”  
“Because it was enchanted, is all I can suppose. And a fiendishly clever gift it was.”  
“Sometimes I felt sorry for it, but the music was so wonderful, and the bird itself was so ugly, like a small vulture. When it was happy, and we would feed it seeds and pet it, all it ever did was poop and cluck. At first we would just twist its wings, but then she learned how to play it like a musical instrument, using little pointed metal sticks and hooks. It didn’t bother me so much if I didn’t look, so I would lie down on the floor and close my eyes, or just dance where I couldn’t see it…”  
Maleficent closed her own eyes. She didn’t want to hear this story, and she had already figured the truth out for herself, long ago. Adrastia’s gift of the Olverung was the torture toy Aura had used to learn the joy of inflicting pain on others, by putting the bird into the throes of agony, to hear its beautiful singing.  
“She sang along. My voice isn’t magical, like Aura’s or the Olverung, so I had to be quiet and listen. I felt so ugly and noisy, compared with her. It sounded so heavenly, so transcendently wonderful, and I felt the music move through me while I danced, until I would open my eyes and watch…”  
It gave me my first gray hairs, the older dark fairy thought. Finding that disemboweled bird in the tower had made her blood run cold, and much as she wanted to believe that an animal had attacked the Olverung, in her heart she knew that wasn’t the case. Wanting to believe, it was so easy to accept Aura’s tears of sadness at the loss of her pet, and not question things too closely. The wizard had questioned things, and Aura had demanded that the mean, lecherous old man go away, she was afraid of him, and said that he looked at her strangely. So the wizard had left, taking Phillip with him.   
“She killed other things, but nothing ever matched the sheer exquisite delight of the Olverung’s agony. She missed it so after she killed it, and she cried because she would never hear it sing again, but try as she would, there was no replacement, no creature that was ever quite the same, do what it would do under the delicate, cruel tortures of her touch. In its death throes, it sang so beautifully that the stones of the castle tower shed tears, and when she sang along with it my soul shook. The windows hummed in sympathy and even I cried, though my eyes are unable to shed ordinary tears. Such mystical beauty, an angel playing her harp, and the song she sang was for me. She said she loved me, and that we would always be together…”  
Maleficent felt that same horrible sensation of cold coming over her that she had felt so many years ago in the tower, finding that bird, and even the hot tea in her hands couldn’t warm her fingers. She looked up from the teacup to her daughter, and saw that she was quite gray in the dark shade of the bedchamber, and her bright yellow eyes were dimmed, closer to white, and she was looking away out the window while she talked. The elder dark fairy took a deep breath, and remembering what she had accidentally seen in the crystal ball, realized where the story was going, as it somehow all made horrible sense.   
“When the bird died, and the beauty of its voice was stilled forever, she told me that we didn’t need the bird anymore, because we were going to sing a different song, and that I was her Olverung.”  
“I am so sorry, my dearest child. I failed you.” She looked out the window, where her daughter was staring as if in a trance, and saw snowflakes falling. So the springtime of the princess’ beauty was asleep as well, and now came winter. There was a chill in the air, and a gloomy, gray darkness, that felt as cold as the tea in her cup, and her heart, as she wondered if winter could last a hundred years.  
“But it was not until this morning that I truly understood it all. Why Aura laughed at me, and treated me like she did. The great joke was that she is the dragon, in a form that no one would ever recognize, and in this form, can easily manipulate and command them all. She would laugh so, and mock me for my efforts at locating the magic mirror, and the countless hours I devoted to working on time travel spells that might take me there! She knew I could never do it; and was amused by my constant attempts. Always, she spoke of Aurora as though she were a fool for destroying the mirror, but it wasn’t so. I think Mummy Aurora never did anything so wise as when she threw that humble rock at the mirror and shattered it. However, since you did not bind the spirit of the dragon in any way, it continued on in the astral plane until such a time came to further its own goals once again. It caused your unborn child to become twins. One for the dragon to inhabit, another to be its plaything. No wonder she mocked me so!” she smiled with grim humor.  
Maleficent wept, not wanting to hear the horrible story her daughter for some reason felt it necessary to unburden her soul with, after all these years, but she did, hearing the full and awful truth for the first time. Perhaps it was because they both knew that Aura was never returning to their childhood home, she was involved with so many other things, other people, and knew that her twin was not. She had temples, worshippers, and the love of all. Aura need never spend a moment alone, and was taking sadistic delight in knowing that her defiant twin was suffering an exquisite loneliness for her temerity to disobey. And there was no one else to listen. “Cursed be dragons!” she cried. “Indeed, their teeth and claws were surely the least dangerous part of them! Nor, as I have now come to learn, was their talking the only other part that I should have been wary of!”  
“Perhaps more cursed are we,” Mallie responded thoughtfully. “For the dragon, who is now Aura the Beloved, the Queen of Peace, controls vast kingdoms, while we are merely discarded toys. We have served our purposes. For all my reading and magical researching, I overlooked the obvious best source of information. Did Edward the Dragonslayer leave any diaries or journals?”  
“I believe so, but Snow White wanted to keep those, and I agreed, as I was so busy packing up the massive collection that was my mother’s.”  
“And Snow White could not read?”  
“No.”  
“Then there you have it.”   
The snow stopped at dawn the next morning, and they were both tired; the younger from telling her tale, and the elder from hearing it. A wintry gray day dawned, and the snow turned into rain, and the elder dark fairy suggested they rest.   
“Yes,” was the response, with the energy and conviction of a zombie. Maleficent helped her daughter into bed, and pulling up the embroidered coverlet over her, kissed her gently on the forehead.   
“Sleep well, my dear, and when you awaken, I will make you breakfast, whatever time of day that may be, and we will walk by the riverside. I am no healer, Little One, our lost Aurora had that great blessing, so we will do as best we can with humble herbs and what magic I can twist to our aid.”  
“Thank you, Mother, but I shall die soon.”  
“No, dear…”  
“I can see it. It is like the time travel spell, only this is the end. The other end of the path narrows down and slips away to nothing.”  
“Sweetheart, it’s just the shadow from the curse. The princess lies in a sleeplike death, and so a part of you sleeps and feels dead along with her. When you cast the spell, part of your spirit-energy was bound with hers…”  
“I know how magic works, Mother.”  
“Then sleep now, dear, as I am nearly ready to fall over.”  
“Then good night, Mother, and should this be the last time we speak, you did not fail me. You always loved me, and I you. My fate was determined before I was born, and as the elderly wizard sometimes said, you had been cross-threaded with humanity too much for your own good, and I with you.”  
“Good night, dear, and I love you, too…” then she noticed that her daughter had fallen asleep, and with a sigh, she lay down, and put a wing over both of them for warmth and for a sound barrier. Tears slid silently over her cheeks, and she fell asleep watching the rain falling outside in a sad rhythm. She felt cold, and it wasn’t a bodily chill, it was an icy wind that came from within; a soul-dread. Much as she wanted to believe that the younger dark fairy’s strange emptiness was a side effect of her curse, she suspected that probably wasn’t all that was wrong. Maybe she was foreseeing her own death, and felt the necessity to unburden herself. Although she was weary, sleeping was difficult, as she wondered what she could possibly do, and what was going to happen next. Eventually, her eyes closed.  
Maleficent awoke to the sounds of raven calls, and her daughter stirred beside her, awakening as well. She tightened her wing over them, trying to muffle the sounds of the squawks. The birds were talking excitedly about how the escaped prince had fought his way through the barrier of thorny blackberries and rosebushes that had grown up around the castle. “Go away, you gossips!” she snapped, “Don’t bother us with that!”  
“What?” the younger dark fairy asked in amazement, her golden yellow eyes opening. “What?”  
The ravens repeated their stories, Diablo in the front, knowing every move the young prince had made. “No!” she screamed, “No he cannot!” She leapt up, throwing the coverlet and her protesting mother aside. She grabbed her staff and looked out the window. “No! I will stop him!”  
Picking herself up off the floor, Maleficent moaned in exasperation and exhaustion. She hadn’t slept long enough for this, worry had made a hard pillow, and she wanted to make a blackbird pie out of those unwelcome gossips. But there was her daughter, flying into another of her rages, and vowing to kill the prince. Maleficent looked out the window and noticed a path had been cut through the rosebushes, a quite visible trail, and she thought aloud, “That boy is quite determined. He must have hacked at those branches all night and straight through until morning.”  
“Then he shall be weaker when I catch him!”  
“Oh, no dear! Please sit down, and I’ll make breakfast and tea…”  
But with a shriek and a curse the young sorceress was gone, flinging herself in a brilliant, glowing spiral prism of magical sparks, rather than teleporting, to the edge of the wall of thorns, picking up additional energy as she went. Maleficent sighed in exasperation and looked out the window. She winced as her beloved child transformed herself into a black and purple dragon, and tried to eat the prince, who was taking wild, clumsy swings at the magical beast. Oh, dearest, she thought, why must you lower yourself like that? My lovely little girl, dancing so gracefully on her long green toes, now taking great snaps and chomps with her powerful jaws at the small figure before her… Then she noticed that all was not going as planned for her daughter as she battled the young prince. He was an incompetent fighter at best, and wielded his weapon like it was a stick he was using to knock fat chickens out of a tree, not battle a fire and acid-breathing monster. His shield, an enormous metallic contrivance that bore the symbol of Virtue, saved him from the blasts of greenish acidic fire, and made young Maleficent unwilling to simply bite down upon him, until he lost it in the fight. Without it, the sorceress would have already killed him easily, although he didn’t seem knowledgeable in its uses, either. Yet, his sword, a glowing blue blade, was striking through her armor of dragon scales, which were impervious to all but the most powerful of enchanted weapons, and bashed her upon the bridge of her nose. Maleficent realized what must be happening; the prince had magical aid, and before her eyes, the young man threw his sword upward, in an impossible shot that never should have hit, and speared the young sorceress turned dragon through the heart. With a horrible scream, the dragon tumbled from the cliff beside the castle, and Maleficent clearly beheld the rainbow sparkles of the three pixies. She stood there for a moment in sheer disbelief; they had helped the young prince try to kill her daughter; and possibly succeeded. With a shriek, she took to the sky, and vowed vile revenge upon the creatures. How dare they, she thought, how dare they? She had only let them live for Aurora’s sake, and then they had crossed her repeatedly. For love and sweet indulgence to Snow White and Aurora, she had again let them live, punishing them only with her sense of humor. She realized now that she should have murdered the creatures and never divulged the truth to her family. She had to fly, she couldn’t simply teleport like her magically gifted daughter, and she worried that she might be too late when she arrived. 

With the good fairies’ guidance and help, Prince Philip swung and hit the evil sorceress turned dragon on the nose first. Then, at Flora’s behest, he threw his sword upward in one last, desperate move, and the enchanted sword pierced the monster’s body. With a horrifying shriek, it fell, and resumed the form of a woman as she hit the ground, the sword still impaling the chest of a many layered black silk dress. The prince and his white steed stared down the hillside where the fairy lay impaled. Philip wondered for a moment what he should do. His horse, Samson, the Spirit of Righteousness, the magical talking steed, was very concerned. To leave the fairy suffering would be an act of evil, and imperil their holy bond of righteousness. Samson didn’t care about Prince Philip’s philandering, he enjoyed as many females as he could, too, whenever he got the chance. But to knowingly commit an act of evil would negate the magic, and he would vanish. So Samson encouraged his master to render aid, and deliver the fallen fairy back to her mother; the Chivalric Code of Paladins demanded it. She was bleeding profusely, and with his fine hearing, he could hear her moans and cries. Also unbeknownst to the mortal man, he sensed the approach of the fairy’s mother. As he also knew, did the pixies, who did not observe the Chivalric Code. Nor did they appear very good to him, more like craven, chaotic neutral creatures along the order of beasts.   
So Samson the horse nudged his master and best friend in the direction of noble deeds, indicating that he must descend the cliff and either render aid to the fallen sorceress, or else ease her passing if she were beyond help. Prince Philip stared down the treacherous ravine at the figure below, and Samson again told him that it was very important that he attend to the dark fairy before doing anything else. He wavered, not wanting to climb down that awful cliff side.   
“Just die, Witch!” Philip muttered angrily. He felt vengeful, and if he had to climb all the way down that treacherous cliff, the last thing he wanted to do was rescue that wretched sorceress; he’d rather cut off her head, or better yet, she could die with his cock in her ass.   
Samson was stunned; such evil thoughts from a paladin? But before the prince could commit any willful acts of evil, the pixies ordered him to commit one of omission.  
The three Good Fairies called out, “Come on Prince Philip! There’s no time to waste!”  
The horse snorted in disappointment and disgust. The prince turned and ran where the good fairies told him to, leading him onward to where the princess lay in her deathlike sleep, while the injured dark fairy lay on the wet stones, vomiting and choking on her own blood. No one was there with her, as she grasped onto the silent stones, the iron in the steel sword ruining her magic. Somewhere in the distance, there was music and lights, trumpets and cheering. But none of that was for her, it was someone else’s dream come true. Dying took too long, she thought, unafraid of what came next, and only wishing the prince had been more thorough. The sword had skewered her, but it only left her impaled, it hadn’t killed her. His first strike across her nose had made a great gash, but not ended her wretched existence. She waited to die, wanted to die, but for so long no one came. It was almost an ironic agony when her mother finally found her. Air movement and loud flapping that could have been giant eagles, she thought, or huge vultures scavenging for food, but it was not. The gentle hands and weeping could have been no one else, she knew before she opened her eyes.   
There was a brief pain of the sword being pulled out, and she heard it hurled away, and felt the sensation of being lifted from the hard stone into warm arms. Then, the shouting of many men, and her mother made a furious, thundering noise she never imagined the patient, quiet old fairy lady could ever have made, and the world erupted in green fire. Men were shouting and shrieking everywhere, and Mother was taking flight holding her when they dropped, and her body vibrated in agony as every broken bone, every shattered organ, and open nerve was plunged earthward onto the stones again. She realized from the strangled screaming that Mother had been hit in the back with something, and then her world went black.


	54. The Awakening of Sleeping Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent is chained in the dungeon, scheduled to be burned at the stake. Briar Rose awakens, to a life she never dreamed about, or even really wanted. She feels lied to, and that everyone knew the truth but her. She ventures into the dungeon to see for herself if the rumors are true, and frees the chained dark fairy in a single act of rebellion.

Chapter 54  
The Awakening of Sleeping Beauty

High up in a tower, the three pixies led the prince to where the Princess Aurora, Beauty of the Dawn slept. Kneeling beside her, his lips touched hers, and the beautiful princess’ eyes fluttered open. Awakened from her dreams, she saw there the one she loved the most. It was magic, she knew, pure magic! She smiled, and he picked her up in his arms. It was the same young man she had met in the woods, and he had awakened her with a kiss. “Where am I?” she asked. The last thing she remembered had been touching the pointy end of a piece of odd-looking old furniture while a magical voice told her to do it.   
“You are saved, my princess,” he said, giving a brief description of the spell she had been under, and how she had been asleep for a couple of days. His love had saved her.  
“No wonder I feel so thirsty!” she laughed, and then they went downstairs, where it seemed the entire castle was waking from slumber. She drank some water, and then was overwhelmed by the bustling action of all the people around her. Two people, whom she had to remind herself were her mother and father, embraced her and wept with joy, and she hugged them back, because they were her parents and they were obviously so very happy to see her. She was introduced to a fat man dressed in red and gold. He was her beloved, handsome prince’s father, and although Briar Rose was gracious and polite, giving him the welcoming kiss her mother whispered to her that she was expected to give, she shuddered inwardly at his dreadful physique and florid complexion. Surely, her young, charming prince could never look that bad, many, many years from now, could he? Could he? Not unless his mother was a troll, Briar Rose thought to herself, and then gave herself a mental spanking. To think such things wasn’t very nice at all! Of course his mother was probably a lovely queen, who had once been a beautiful princess herself. But Briar Rose got the feeling that she was probably dead. Then she scolded herself again. What would her aunties say, if they knew that she was thinking such Bad Thoughts! There was so much to comprehend all at once, and her life had changed so suddenly and rapidly that it was all a blur. The old fat man told her that the date of her wedding was already set, their honeymoon palace built, cradles ready, and she barely heard him, while she was swept off in a romantic whirl of excitement. She danced and danced with the man she loved while the music played on and on. Love at first sight, she thought to herself, it was all so magical! She had dreamed of just such a wonderful thing happening to her, and it had; she was so fortunate! Everything was beautiful and surreal, having the quality of a daydream, where her fondest wish had come true.  
Three scant days later, the birthday celebration had been converted to a wedding, and the Princess Aurora’s wedding was the most beautiful arrangement she had ever seen; the castle had been outfitted with a choir, white-wrapped chairs for guests, banners and flowing ribbons everywhere, and vases of fragrant flowers. She was wearing a gorgeous long trained gown that sparkled like the new fallen snow, which she had actually never seen, since she had been blessed from birth to only know springtime and sunshine wherever she went. When the priest pronounced them man and wife, she was kissed once again by her true love the handsome prince who had rescued her, and she knew it was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. It should have been a dream come true.  
But it wasn’t, although she kept telling herself that it was, and blamed her discomfort on the pinchy, pointy shoes she was required to wear. There was no going barefoot in the castle, and she felt like she had coffins on her feet. The Princess Aurora’s wedding was beautiful and fantastic, every princess’ dream, but it was Briar Rose the peasant girl who showed up, dressed and coiffed like a princess. It certainly seemed to be the happiest day of everyone else’s life. Her new husband was gracious and handsome, her parents wept with happiness, and her three elderly aunties also shed tears of joy, and told her that she, Princess Aurora, was the most beautiful girl in the world. It was strange how everyone was calling her that, when she still thought of herself as Briar Rose, the peasant girl who wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone, and now everyone was looking at her. Looking, watching, judging, and talking. She was nervous and scared, and it made her feel like she was In Trouble, although she’d done nothing wrong. So many Strangers! They were all Strangers, really. Not only the many eyes upon her, but also her parents, the brave, handsome prince, and even her three aunties. They weren’t elderly peasant women at all- they were really three Good Fairies. So in a way, they were Strangers too. She wasn’t used to people at all, and there were so many eyes upon her, staring. If Philip hadn’t been holding her hand the entire time, she might have given in to fear and run away. Everyone, it seemed, was dancing and saying how wonderful it all was, her new father-in-law most of all. He had grand plans for his future grandchildren, and where they would live. The feasting and joyful revelry continued far into the evening, when she and her new husband retired to their room, and her three aunties kissed her goodnight. She was still quite surprised to have learned that they were really good fairies! They had taken human forms to raise her, and hide her far away in the forest in order to keep her safe from the dreaded evil fairy. What might happen if the wicked fairy should find her, they wailed! A fate worse than death, they said. Evil fairies had wicked, unnatural desires, and terrible things would happen if she ever spoke to one, let alone be carried off by them! That’s why they had to be so careful, they told her, lest she speak with one of the infernal fiends and fall under her spell. Evil fairies had terrible magic, her aunties wept and warned. Long ago, a beautiful princess had been cursed by one, then charmed and stolen away by her to be her lifelong slave. Briar Rose had never seen or spoken to an evil fairy, although she might have seen them before, in her dreams. It was strange, she suddenly realized, that creatures she had never actually seen could have affected her life so very much. She also thought that her aunties could have told her they had fairy powers; they could have easily finished all the chores with magic, instead of making her do them all while they played cards and drank tea!  
Briar Rose’s own mother had talked to her briefly about pleasing her new husband, and about wifely duties. It was very important to be successful at marriage. Lying with her new husband wasn’t as bad as she had feared it would be, since he tried to be gentle, but it was certainly an unfamiliar, strange sensation, nothing like her romantic fantasies of singing and dancing. Instead of sparkling twinkles and dreams, it was noises, thrusts and smells. But this was what she was meant for; all her beauty and charms were to draw to her the handsome prince. She knew that she might as well get used to their unions, since he certainly liked it, and that they were expected to produce grandchildren; lots of them. Indeed, everyone, especially her new husband’s father, was talking about and looking forward to the heirs she would bear. Then, as everyone knew, all of her dreams would be fulfilled when she bore a son and heir to the throne that permanently united the two kingdoms. Briar Rose was almost surprised when she discovered that this was one of her dreams, and was stunned to see that a king-size wooden cradle had already been made. She was even more amazed to overhear some of the maids talking about handsome Prince Philip the Philanderer. She wondered what that was, but then decided that the other women must be jealous of her, to be saying the nasty things that they were. And he was older than she was, maybe he had been betrothed before. It was possible, she thought, they certainly were cackling about the names of various other princesses and ladies.   
The next few days passed seemingly without her. Everyone was kind to her, and said how wonderful it was that the curse was broken and that all her dreams had come true. King Hubert had already arranged the honeymoon, built and furnished the grand new castle they would occupy, and even chosen the names of his future grandchildren. Although many people spoke of her, few spoke to her, and she realized that for everyone else, her part in the grand dance of life was mostly over. All she had to do from now on was sew, sing, please her husband and produce babies. That was it. She was sixteen.  
She wandered around the castle, exploring rooms and learning how things were supposed to be in a grand house, since she had been raised by three old ladies in a tumbledown, tree-fort of a cottage and had done all the house and yard work herself since she was small. Here, servants did that sort of thing, and now she would have the opportunity to sew fine gowns for herself and her future children, and to learn courtly arts like playing the harp, or to simply be entertained with music or board games with her aunties and the mother she had been so recently reunited with. Learning to play a musical instrument interested her, but none of the rest of it did. Without chores, it seemed like there were other things she could be doing and learning about, with this enormous amount of leisure time that had suddenly opened up. Her new husband, she discovered, had many demands placed upon him, and she often felt like an unnecessary ornament, jangling awkwardly from his coattails. However, without him she felt bored and lonely. Her mother and aunties told her that soon children would fill that void, and in the meantime, she should drink tea and play cards with them. Briar Rose found that to be truly dull, even worse than chores, and so preferred the company of her prince. When she sought him out, she accidentally interrupted an important discussion Philip was having with Hubert and Stefan about what to do with the fearsome monsters caged up in the dungeon. Now that sounded interesting!  
“Monsters?” she asked as they showed her to the door.  
“Yes, Monsters,” King Hubert blustered, “Monsters! Monsters! Horrible, filthy depraved beasts! Wicked whores of Hell!”  
“Hubert, watch your language!” Stefan snapped at the fat man. “The wicked fairy who cast the curse upon you, dear,” her father clarified, “And another filthy, fanged, winged demon who came to collect it.”  
“Killed plenty of your men, too,” Hubert reminded him, “Before the hideous beast was finally taken captive.”  
“I thought the wicked fairy was dead,” Briar Rose exclaimed. All the songs and tales told at the celebration ball the night she had been awakened ended with the brave, handsome Prince slaying the evil fairy in the form of a dragon. Then, he had awakened her with the kiss of true love, and the spell was broken!  
“Soon will be!” Hubert announced. “Building the bonfires; send the accursed whores back to the chasms of Hell they came out of in a burst of flames! No more black sorcery around here! We don’t want witches, wizards, warlocks, evil fairies, or the like!”  
“What?” she asked curiously. “What witches and wizards?”  
“The evil witch who cast the curse upon you is in the dungeon,” Hubert proclaimed, “And we haven’t seen hide nor hair of that dratted wizard in years. Does nothing but stir up trouble, and if we catch his smoky arse we’ll send him off to Hell, too. Good riddance to him, I say!”  
“Don’t worry, dear,” her father said, “You’re perfectly safe.”  
Her husband took her arm and explained, “I thought the evil dragon was dead; it fell off the cliff and all, after I impaled it with the enchanted Sword of Truth. Perhaps I should have made sure, but I was in such a hurry to find you, my dear. The Three Good Fairies led me to you, and it was the happiest moment of my life.” He showed her to the door of the meeting room, filled with smoke and shelves full of unfamiliar things, including dusty tomes that contained something precious to her father. “Aurora, dear, perhaps you should find your mother…” He looked down the hallway, and saw three elderly women arguing brusquely in harsh tones with an old man, hooded and cloaked, leaning on a crooked, wooden staff. “Oh, there are your aunties!” He called to them, and resuming their sweet voices they rushed up and swept her away. When she looked back over her shoulder, the old man was gone.  
Philip had thought about things, too. He had told his whole, unedited tale to Stephan and Hubert, who had both sympathized and shuddered appropriately at the terrible parts, and then they counseled him that the wisest thing to do was to wait until the festivities were over, and then burn both witches. Then they would be rid of evil forever, and get on with their lives. Philip agreed, but he was still bothered. He liked his new wife just fine, she was very nice, beautiful, and loved him very much. They had fun when it was just the two of them, but that wasn’t very often, and compared to some of the girls he’d known before, she was terrifyingly ignorant, and extremely nervous around people. Most of all, he missed Samson, his horse, who had faded away because Philip had lapsed in the Chivalric Code. He’d had Samson since he was twelve, when he had dedicated himself to the Hero’s Path and the Way of the Paladin, and the talking warhorse had been his best friend. Law and good deeds were the meat and drink of paladins, and he had been told that if he were ever to knowingly commit an evil act, especially one chaotic in nature, that he would lose the status of paladinhood immediately and irrevocably. No noble deed or magic could now restore him, as the songs of bardic heraldry and generous donations to the charities for unwed mothers had done to absolve him of the somewhat chaotic acts of giving pleasure and gold to fallen ladies of the night. He’d been well aware that he was riding the edge of what was allowed, but he hadn’t ever harmed anybody. Killing the wolves that were feeding on farmers’ sheep, subduing brigands, rescuing stranded monks and helpless maidens from monsters, were all very clear, and had gained him great renown as a hero. But leaving the extremely strange and clearly crazy sorceress to die alone, against Samson’s advice, and especially his comment about wishing her dead, had been evil, but he’d done what the Good Fairies told him to. He’d thought that was what he was supposed to do. It was, wasn’t it? But that one act of evil had cost him dearly, and he was wondering if it was all worth it. He was happy with the Princess Aurora, but he’d been just as happy traveling around with a magical, talking horse and having fantastic, fun adventures fighting monsters with his friends, and partying afterward with lots of wine, women, and song. He was also very annoyed with the three Good Fairies, who had rushed him along to the princess, instead of taking Samson’s advice. Now his dearest friend was gone, forever. So were his healing powers, holy radiance, and his immunity to disease. Magical and Blessed Prince Philip, Holy Defender of the Realm, wasn’t. Although he still had his charisma, dashing good looks, soaring singing voice, and nobility, the magic was gone, all but his original Good Fairy christening blessings, and he was acutely aware of it. Feeling glum, he listened to Hubert and Stephan talk over lunch, and helped himself to a giant turkey sandwich with a savory meat sauce. He must have eaten too much, combined with the Evermead, a very rare and extremely costly treat of Elven honey wine that had been stored in the castle for hundreds of years, because his tummy rumbled ominously, and then he leaned back in his chair, and fell asleep.  
In the dream, he was back at the scene of the battle, just after the dragon had gone off the cliff, and changed back into a woman. The three Good Fairies were urging him to come with them and rescue the princess, but Samson told him to attend to the fallen sorceress first. This time, he took the horse’s advice. He climbed down the cliff and approached the witch, who was very badly wounded. She was bleeding heavily, from the stabbing and from her nose and mouth. He knew that in addition to the initial injury, there were broken bones and more from the fall.  
“No, Prince Philip, no!” the three Good Fairies cried.  
“Wait,” he told them, and as gently as he could, removed the sword from the sorceress, and then using his magical powers, laid his hands on the wound to close it up, a bright light emanating from his palms.   
The three Good Fairies were horrorstruck, and warned him that she would get up and attack him again. So he said to the witch, “I’m going to help you, but you’ll have to cooperate.” She agreed with a one-word noise, and he asked the three Good Fairies if they had healing powers. They didn’t, so instead he asked them to create some bandages, about fifty feet of rope, and a board, so that he would have a way to lift and carry the sorceress. Pulling her up the cliff without them would probably kill her. If they could create a magical sword and shield, he pointed out, they could create something as mundane as a wooden plank. Grudgingly, the three Good Fairies assisted him, all the while warning him of her treachery. But with Samson’s help, he managed to pull the injured witch up the cliff without making her wounds any worse, and took her back to the castle with him.   
“Finally!” Flora exclaimed, “Princess Aurora needs you!”  
“She’s asleep, she’ll be fine for another twenty minutes,” the prince answered, taking Samson to the stable and making sure he was cared for, with enough food and water. Then he took the sorceress to a high tower, unused except for a storeroom, and making her as comfortable as possible, asked the three fairies to cast a spell upon her, too. “A sleeping spell, to be awakened by the kiss of forgiveness,” he said. They looked very confused, but were quite happy to put the sorceress to sleep. For her part, the witch would rather be asleep or dead than in so much pain. Then, finding the sleeping princess, he awakened her with love’s first kiss. She was beautiful, and they knew they were meant to be together. The swirling soiree of birthday and wedding joy ensued, and when the celebrations had subsided, he told his new wife a secret, and showed her the storeroom where the sleeping fairy lay. She had never actually met this person who had cursed her, and was very curious. He told her everything that had happened, including the truth he had managed to wring out of the three pixies, who called themselves Good Fairies, by questioning them separately about events long past. King Hubert confirmed what the prince now suspected, and Aurora was devastated to hear that she had in fact killed a baby when she was but a child herself, and wept bitter tears. She still loved her aunties, even if they hadn’t ever told her the truth, although Philip thought they weren’t very good at all, more meddlesome and bossy than anything.   
Time flows differently in dreams, and so his children appeared. Handsome princes and beautiful princesses, all blessed by the pixies, despite his misgivings about their gifts. He remembered what Maleficent had said about their ill-thought out blessings, and he didn’t remember a winter since he was small. Sledding, snowball fights and snowmen were distant memories. Then Briar Rose said to him that she felt sorry for the witch stashed away in the storeroom, sleeping forever until she was forgiven for her crimes. Having her own children made Briar Rose even sadder for the lost fairy baby, and with tears, kissed the sorceress, awakening her. The injuries were gone, and the witch sat up, seeming lost. Philip explained to her what had happened while she slept, and that he had a plan to make everything right. He and Briar Rose took the fairy to Stefan and Leah, where she apologized for her troublemaking curse, and at Philip’s urging, they forgave Maleficent, and the fairy forgave Aurora and Philip. Now, the prince smiled, they could all be friends. Better than friends, he discovered, for Briar Rose had agreed that if the fairy wanted another baby to make up for the loss of her first child, she could have one, a task Philip was pleased to perform. He told his new mistress that his wife came first, but that said, he wanted to make her very happy, too. Although Briar Rose was still shy around people, from being raised alone in the woods by xenophobic pixies and never having contact with anyone, she was basically adventurous, and extremely curious about everything. Once she experienced the pleasures of another woman’s touch, she realized that she had been missing out on a lot.   
Philip smiled in his sleep, the dark fairy was a lot of fun, especially when he wasn’t chained up. Holding on to her horns while she put those scarlet lips around his cock was superb, and it was much better to have her in his comfortable bedroom, instead of sitting on a cold stone. Deep and sweet, he remembered, especially the way her purring had heightened his sensations. Having sex with the fairy and his wife was fantastic. He put it all the way in his luscious fairy mistress, and then sat up, putting her legs astride his. That held her at just the right angle, and he urged her to touch the blond beauty’s soft hair while she pleasured the fairy. He caressed her breasts, and every lick and kiss from the pretty princess sent shivers of pleasure through the purring sorceress, and superb pleasures for Philip himself. The stallion certainly knew what he’d been talking about! More babies ensued, and he was a very happy man, until a great green ogre walked into his bedroom, disrupting the party. The terrible smell of farts wafted in with him.  
“Hey there,” the ogre said, wagging his stubby green finger at the prince, “Keep eating like that, and you’ll get more than bad dreams about party-wrecking ogres! Take a look at this!” Naked ladies faded away, to be replaced with a terrifying image of himself eating, eating, eating, and growing larger, rounder, fatter, and then aging horribly until he looked like his father, Hubert. A scream of dread and horror escaped his lips, and he awoke suddenly in the reclining chair, with a stomach ache and feeling gassy. The farts must have been his own, he realized, but it was the first time he’d ever smelled anything in a dream. Hubert and Stefan looked over at him.  
“Are you all right?” Stefan asked, looking concerned.   
“Oh,” Philip answered, “It was just a dream!”  
“About what?” Hubert asked.  
“A terrifying dream about ogres,” Philip answered, not wanted to divulge either his fantasy females or the horrifying spectre of getting old and fat like his father. He was also feeling glum all over again that instead of the party he’d just dreamt about, he was going to sleep with a woman who demurely submitted to her wifely duties. That, and Samson was still gone. The sensuous sorceress who had livened up his dream sex life was in the dungeon with her mother, scheduled to be burnt at the stake within a few days.   
After a long afternoon of tea, frosted biscuits and cards with her aunties, Briar Rose attended dinner with her husband and parents. There were minstrels and harlequins, dancing and music. Once again, she was regaled with the heroic tale of her own rescue, and everyone watched and waited while she was expected to swoon in gratitude. A hint of annoyance began to creep into her mind, as well as an uncomfortable sense of embarrassment, and she eavesdropped on conversations not meant for her, to learn more about the filthy, evil monsters caged in the dungeon. When not cursing infants and taking slaves, they were reputed to fly and feast upon human blood, then spending their evenings in depraved, unnatural acts of vile perversion. They also whispered in fear about a nameless warlock, spotted out in the hills and forests casting spells of dark magic, who might at any moment wreak a terrible vengeance upon them for caging the beasts. So all the palace guards had been sent to search for the evil magician, and dispatched around the perimeter of the castle, while the feasting and revelry inside continued unabated. Briar Rose suddenly wondered why her three dear aunties had never told her that they were really good fairies, in all those years, but had immediately revealed themselves and used their magic to help the prince. She had the feeling that something was going on, and spent an uneasy night, thinking that perhaps all was not as it should be, and that beneath the sugar-coated surface might be ugly things. Her dreams were not all innocent fantasies of a handsome, rescuing prince who would take her away to a magic castle. There were startling nightmares of old hags, motherhood, and ancient things. She even dreamt that her own monthly unmentionable was actually a tiny mirror of a great cycle of life, death, and rebirth that no one had ever told her that she was supposed to cherish. But that was silly, she thought to herself upon awakening in the morning, she shouldn’t even be thinking about such nasty things.  
But she was still curious, and the next morning after breakfast, Briar Rose decided to soothe her curiosity. The beasts were supposedly caged in the dungeon, and engaged in unnatural acts. She thought as hard as she could, and was still at a loss as to what they were talking about, so she decided to go down into the dungeons and take a look for herself. Most of the guards were outside, searching for the feared, unnamed wizard, so she found it somewhat simple to slip unseen down the long, dark stone corridors leading deep underground. It was a very depressing place, she thought, and smelled bad, like a privy. Briar Rose was very curious, but also tenderhearted, and when she realized what the stained tables, chains, and devices must be for, a little part of her died inside; a spark of innocence wisped out forever. Of course, they were saving the souls of witches and heathens, the priests said so, but it didn’t seem like a very nice way to do it. Witches and wizards were burnt for their wickedness.  
Passing by several cells of ragged, unhappy looking peasant men who stank of sweat and urine, she came to an iron door. She wondered what that was. She had overheard that there was supposed to be an old iron cage down here somewhere, built long ago for a wicked fairy who had also cursed a princess to death. The door was rusty and filthy, and she wondered if maybe that led to the iron cage. She turned and asked one of the dirty peasant men what was behind the door.  
“The winged beast,” he answered, coming alive again at her questioning, “Kept in the iron cage. Why do you want to know? What’s a lovely lady like you doing down here in rogue’s row?”  
“I’m Briar Rose… I mean Princess Aurora,” she answered. “Thank you for your assistance. How do I open the door?”  
“Uh,” the man answered, a little surprised that he was talking to the princess, “With the keys. On the keychain, up there over the table on the hook. The rusty reddish ones unlock the iron door and the cage, and the chains. The bent one unlocks my cell door,” he added hopefully.  
“I thank you for your assistance, sir,” she answered politely. If she did free this rogue, it would be after she had concluded her business. He would probably run back up the stairs and if he got caught, they would know that someone let him out and come looking for her, too.  
“You’d better take a candle or a torch,” he said, “Or you won’t be able to see.”  
“Yes,” she agreed, and hesitantly put the iron key in the door. It turned the lock, and then she pulled on the door, which was far too heavy for her to move. She sighed, and turned to the rogue. “I will let you out on the condition that you help me. Open this door and hold the torch.”  
“Anything I can do to help,” he immediately agreed.   
She put the bent key in the lock of his dismal little cell, no more really than a hollowed out area in the stone. It was sad, she thought, to keep human beings in such terrible confines. He certainly thought so, too, and pushed the barred door of the cell open. “Please open the iron door,” she asked, putting the keychain in her cloak pocket.   
He pulled on it, and grunting and straining, said, “Help me pull!”   
So then she did a very unladylike thing, and putting her delicate, crystal slippered foot up against the doorframe, pulled with all her might and helped the rogue swing the heavy iron door open, with a tremendous amount of creaking and groaning from the rusty hinges. Of course, the fancy shoe fell off, and Briar Rose felt more like kicking it away than putting it back on. Everyone loved them, but she was used to going barefoot.  
“Son of a flea-bitten bitch,” he exclaimed, “You’d think they could oil those damn things!” Then he looked at her and said, “Sorry, Princess Aurora!”  
“Yes, I think they should oil them,” she answered, and peered cautiously into the room while the man kicked an iron spike under the bottom of the door.   
“Don’t want it to slam shut again,” he said.   
“Definitely not,” she answered, taking a candle and peering into the darkness. Cautiously, she ventured in. All she saw at first was the shine of eyes in the distance. Moving closer, she saw the outlines of bars, and heard the rustle of chains. “Hello?” she called.  
“Hello,” was the soft answer. It was a sweet voice, not monstrous at all.  
Stepping forward until she had the contents of the cage in the light of the candle, Briar Rose saw great feathered wings, one behind the caged creature, and one partially in front, obscuring the rest of her body in shadow. A lovely, tear-stained face was looking back at her, and Briar Rose thought that she looked vaguely familiar. She wasn’t anyone from the castle, as her horns and great wings attested, but she did feel that she had seen this person before. Once at least, she thought, or maybe only in a dream. Curiously, Briar Rose stepped close enough that the shadows were illuminated in the candlelight. The caged, winged woman, dark horns gracing her head, was cradling another horned woman tenderly in her arms, despite the heavy chains they both wore. But what they were doing! Her dress was open in the front, and the lips of other horned woman were on her breast. Briar Rose was horrified and amazed, it was like what beasts did! “What are you doing?” Briar Rose gasped and asked, ashamed for them.  
“I am nursing my beloved child, lest she die,” was the answer, “Which perhaps may not be too much longer.”  
“That’s not a baby,” Briar Rose answered, unable to avert her eyes, “And besides, babies are supposed to be spoon-fed weak gruel.” So these were the unnatural acts she had heard about!  
“Are they really?” the horned woman asked in equal amazement, her eyes glittering. She was very beautiful, and Briar Rose’s eyes alternated between her face and the open bodice. There seemed to be a lot of dark, dried blood on their strange, torn clothing, and their hair was sweaty and matted-looking.  
“Yes,” Briar Rose answered still staring, “That was what my aunties told me.” They were both injured, and in chains. The skin of the talking, winged woman was very light and delicate, while the skin of the one she held was a most unnatural shade of light grayish-lavender, and most of the fresh blood seemed to be coming from her. There was sweat and soot everywhere, and a sour smell. There were no dreams here, only blood. “Who are you?” she asked.  
“My name is Maleficent, and this is my daughter, who was named after me.”  
Briar Rose was quite amazed, “But only men pass on their names.”  
“Odd,” the horned woman answered, “And I thought only dwarves had that custom.”  
“Dwarves are only a legend, aren’t they?” Briar Rose asked.  
“Legend?” the voice clucked softly, “Might I ask who you are, young lady?”  
“I’m Briar Rose; oh, actually I am the Princess Aurora,” she answered, holding the candle up to her face so the stranger could see. “I’m sorry, I’m so silly! I can’t even seem to remember my own name!”  
“Not necessarily,” the horned woman answered. “My mother named me Maleficent, and my sister Snow White insisted upon calling me Rose Red.” Then she added, “And I think Aurora is a lovely name. So is Briar Rose. It would seem people are fond of naming their daughters after flowers and seasons.”  
“Everything is so confusing,” Briar Rose said. She felt like she could tell this person anything, even if she probably shouldn’t even be there, let alone talking to her! “It’s that I just found out several days ago that I was a princess, anyway the Princess Aurora, Beauty of the Dawn. I used to be a peasant girl, and I lived in a crooked old treehouse with my three aunties, who were really good fairies in disguise. Now, I am a princess, and married to a handsome prince,” she repeated, hearing shuffling and a faint groan from the cage. That’s what her aunties had said, and what everyone else told her, and how wonderful it all was. She was supposed to be in a swirl of delight. She was a beautiful princess in a castle, and everyone adored her, including her new husband, and the parents she hadn’t seen since she was a baby. They were all very nice to her, and said that they loved her, but she felt lied to. Her whole life had been a lie, why should she believe anything these people said now? Everyone else it seemed had known the truth; everyone except her.  
“Are you happy?” the horned woman asked, shifting her position and placing a wing in front of the disturbing sight of the gray-skinned woman doing what she was doing. There was a faint but agonized cry from her, and the heavy clank of iron chains.  
“I should be,” Briar Rose thought aloud, staring. Speaking of which, she realized, she wasn’t supposed to be down here, and she’d seen the monsters, it was probably time to go.  
“But?”  
“I used to be lonely, and dreamt of finding someone, and how romantic it would be, and now I’m still all alone, just surrounded by people.” Then she suddenly felt ashamed of complaining, she was merely lonely and bored, these creatures were chained up in a filthy cage. “Why are you in that cage?”  
“It was made for me,” she answered, “Over two hundred years ago. Now it seems a human king has finally managed to put me in it.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I cursed his child, long, long ago, whom I later came to love with all my heart, and because I was caught rescuing my child, who cursed you.” She paused, and noticing the blank expression on the princess’ face, asked, “Surely you know about the fairies and the sleeping death curses. What were you told?”  
“Nothing,” Briar Rose answered honestly, “Nearly nothing, until the other day, when I overheard the men talking about monsters committing unnatural acts in an iron cage in the dungeon. They told me that I was safe and to go play cards with my aunties. My aunties told me that there was a very wicked fairy that they had been keeping me safe from, all my life, and that’s why I was never supposed to talk to strangers, or go too far from home.”  
“That is all they told you? And then they sent you into the forest alone?”  
“The forest was never frightening,” Briar Rose answered, “In fact, I miss it. The animals, the stream by the cottage, and the beautiful baskets I would find. It was such a lovely place.”  
“It is indeed a lovely place,” the horned woman agreed with a smile. “I don’t suppose your three old aunties ever questioned why you returned from the forest with baskets of fruits, flowers, treats, and occasionally a comb, shawl, hair ribbon or clean undergarments?”  
“No,” Briar Rose answered, “Were they supposed to?”  
The woman laughed slightly, tilting her head down, and her wings shaking. Her chains made a rattling sound, and then she said, “Those three haven’t learned a thing!”  
“How did you know there were three of them?” Briar Rose asked, “And how did you know what was in the baskets?”  
“Because I am the one that left you the baskets, poor child,” she smiled. “One does not normally find food and clean undergarments in baskets in the woods.” Then, with the rustle of feathers and clanking of chains she shifted her wings, and whispered soothingly to the one in her arms, who was making faint moans.  
“It was you? But I don’t understand. I thought it was a magical rabbit! Auntie Flora told me once about a special bunny who goes around leaving baskets of colored eggs and treats for good children.”  
“Perhaps your aunties have neglected to tell you many things,” the horned woman said. “But I will tell you the truthful answers to whatever questions you ask me. However, my time is running short. Unlock the cage, and our chains. If you free us, I will give you a magic rabbit and whatever else you wish. The delights of Fairyland will be yours.”  
Briar Rose felt nervous and scared. She wasn’t supposed to even know about the monsters, what they really were, let alone be down here in the dungeon talking to them! She’d let another prisoner go, as it was. She looked over her shoulder, thinking he might already have run away.   
“Please, Briar Rose, please,” the horned woman begged.   
“How exactly do you plan to escape?” interrupted a voice from behind the princess.   
“As soon as I am away from the iron, my magical powers will be useable again. We will go up the stairs,” the horned woman said, “And then I will create a thick fog. We will walk out of the gates unseen, and then in the streets, you will be free to go your way. If necessary, I will destroy anything in our path.”  
“Deal,” he said, “Princess Aurora, unlock them!”  
“What about me?” she asked. “All of you will be gone, and I will be left here.”  
“They won’t hurt ya,” the rogue said, “Just deny everything.” The princess looked panicky, and then he said, “Hey, I’d offer for you to come with me, but living in a road wagon probably isn’t the life for you.”  
“That is the problem,” Briar Rose said, “I don’t have my life. I have a pattern people gave me.”  
“I will keep my promises, Briar Rose,” the horned woman said, “And I promise that I will help you, in whatever way I can.” She paused, “But please hurry,” she emphasized, “My daughter is dying, and that is my foremost concern.” She looked over at the man, and he nodded.  
Briar Rose wavered, and suddenly perceived that the prisoner she had freed and the horned woman were eyeing one another; he would simply take the keys from her and unlock the cage door if she didn’t. So she did it. More of an impulse than anything, and the feeling that she was alive; something more than the hoodwinked mannequin they all assumed for her to be. She was shaking and breathing heavily, when the man beside her took the keys from her trembling hands and began quickly unlocking the iron chains around the winged woman’s wrists and ankles.   
“Gently!” the winged woman commanded, when he went to start unlocking her injured daughter’s chains, “She fell from a great height, and many of her bones are shattered.”  
“Then there’d be more than that shattered, lady,” he said, trying not to touch the strangely proportioned gray skinned woman at all, but to twist around and reach the locks with the key. Her hands were strange, with extremely long fingers and sharp, pointed nails. He did however enjoy the brief glimpse of the winged woman’s beautiful breasts. Streaked with blood, gore and more, it didn’t matter, the shape was nice, and her nipples were erect from nursing. He raised an eyebrow and a smile, and she gave him a scowl. “Eh,” he intimated, he was game for almost anything she had going, but instead she slid out of the cage, and gently lifted her injured daughter, who shook and screamed.   
“We are almost free, Mallie, my Little One,” Maleficent said sweetly to her, “And we are going home.” She held her as carefully as possible, but the shudders and raspy screams made her worry. She could transform her, but that used a tremendous amount of the creature’s energy, and was uncomfortable for a strong bird or animal. Diaval had shuddered during every transformation, and he was never injured. Transformation was not a healing spell, it was a bodily stressor. So she decided to carry her child in her arms, and whatever was destroyed in their path was destroyed. She kissed her daughter’s forehead, and heard the sound of prison doors opening. The Roadsoul was freeing the other prisoners while Princess Aurora stood beside her, dumbstruck by the powers she’d unleased. “Come with us, Briar Rose,” Maleficent said, “Or return to the hallways upstairs to a life you can easily foresee with no crystal ball. The choice is yours.” Then she stood up and started for the stairway, careful of her injured child, and casting aside whatever was in her way.  
Princess Aurora, formerly Briar Rose the lovely but quite poor peasant maid stood there in abject confusion. She was In Trouble. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this moment. The prisoners, Strangers who did Bad Things, were escaping, the Roadsoul having freed his friends, more Strangers, and the winged creature was intent upon rescuing the injured, gray-skinned figure in her arms. They were the Beasts who had cursed and attacked her. Strangers, monsters who did Bad Things, were escaping everywhere, and she wrung her hands in worry and vexation. Had she done wrong? Maybe Briar Rose herself had just done a Bad Thing. What should she do? What was she supposed to do? What would her aunties think? What about her parents, her handsome husband? What if she was In Trouble? She would definitely be In Trouble for this! The dungeons were going Too Far Away, and she hadn’t merely talked to Strangers, she had freed monsters! Oh, now she was really In Trouble, she thought, gasping and shaking, and making panicky noises. So this was what came of Talking To Strangers! Bad Things! She had just freed their prisoners, their enemies, for what? Curiosity’s sake? Briar Rose was overwhelmed, and ready to scream, what was she supposed to do? What was she allowed to do?   
The Roadsoul, who still had the keys in his hand, elbowed her in the side, “Run!” Then he took off up the stairway after the winged creature, who was illuminating her way with magic, and anything that impeded her path was dissolved or destroyed. “She’s going to hide us all in a fog,” he called to the others, “Everybody get ready to run!” The prisoners, willing to try any jailbreak, however strange, rushed along. Briar Rose, stunned and shaking, just avoided being hit with flying debris as walls burst apart, choosing to hide behind some draperies as the Roadsoul and his companions fled, and the winged creature took to the air with her cherished child in her arms, disappearing into the deep fog that suddenly descended. She sat down and cried, although at the time she wasn’t quite certain why.  
Maleficent cast a sleep spell upon her daughter as soon as was practical, quelling her pain and crying, and aiding their escape. Taking to the air, she hoped that the rigors of the journey wouldn’t prove lethal to the young sorceress. Landing beside a quiet stream and gently laying her daughter upon the green riverbank, she sighed and then finally wept. She had managed an escape from the iron cage, securing her own freedom, but her beloved daughter was probably dying, and poor Briar Rose was still in the castle, imprisoned behind bars and stone walls so great and strong that no magic in the world could ever bring them down. So she did what she could, and washed her daughter’s wounds, and applied the healing herbs that she hoped would draw the vile, thick black poisons from the Sword of Truth out of young Maleficent’s body. Whence had come such an ill-named, double-edged blade, she could only guess, but the mysterious black ichor kept leeching from her wounds, and keeping her under a continuous sleep spell seemed the kindest thing to do. There were deep, dark circles under her eyes, and when she took a breath, it sounded agonizing, even in sleep. Her lips, once so full and dark, were indistinguishable from the rest of her grayish, sallow skin. The elder dark fairy wept bitter tears when she finally admitted to herself that the Roadsoul had been correct; not only bones were broken in her beloved child’s body. She did not have Aurora’s healing skill, and her basic knowledge of herbology was not enough to stave off death. Her little green baby had grown into a powerful sorceress, but twisted at the root by forces she felt she should have destroyed without mercy, and now, realizing that all was lost, she kissed her child’s forehead one last time with love, and sighed. So it was done. The strange warm winds that had existed ever since the new little Princess Aurora’s blessing of loveliness and walking in springtime wherever she went made their eerie presence felt, blowing around her. But it was a cold and hollow emptiness that swept over Maleficent as she buried her dark fairy daughter next to Aurora under the old oak. She made a temporary nest in the tree over the graves that slowly became rather permanent, as she found there was nowhere else that she needed or wanted to be.   
She returned to the castle several times, looking for the princess, and the treacherous pixies, who hid from her. What mattered the oathbreaker’s curse, now? Killing them would be the finest form of enjoyment imaginable, and whatever came afterward was not important. But they fled in fear, hiding themselves among the humans, disguised as old women. For Briar Rose, she left baskets with small gifts of fruit, and a fluffy white rabbit she had enchanted to speak only to the princess. Yet, she never saw Briar Rose at all. Wondering if the girl was a prisoner, she sent ravens to spy, and they returned, telling her that the princess wandered the castle at will, but recoiled from them, and had sent the magical rabbit away, frightened of it. When one of the ravens shape changed into a man, in order to talk to her, she screamed and ran away, hiding in the castle sanctuary. Maleficent shook her head and sighed.  
Years passed, and she noticed that wild, multicolored gay blossoms grew on Aurora’s grave while small, white delicate flowers with a faint, sweet fragrance graced young Maleficent’s burial site, the same ones that also grew on the unfortunate little Rapunzel’s grave. Both older children, Spring and Summer, visited, and tried to convince her to join them in a journey they were making with their husbands, children, and what remained of the Elven people, across the sea, where there were still many fey creatures and demi-humans. They feared the Maiden of Pain, once their sister Aura, and her evil husband. They spoke but Maleficent didn’t hear very much, she mostly felt the wind as it blew and the movements of the energies of the earth beneath her bare feet, and remembered so many things. Dear, sweet Aurora and the lightheartedness of her childhood, the strong woman she grew into, then finally the laughing crone she became; occasionally happy to be just as nasty as the old Yaga herself. She wondered what the old witch was doing, and laughed to herself; eating. Most certainly off somewhere, eating something or even possibly someone. Sometimes she thought about Snow White and laughed at how amazing it was that anyone would have allowed an eight year old to keep a dark fairy baby. Whose epic failure of judgment had that been, she chuckled to herself, probably Edward’s? She thought about the early years of their children’s lives, and still sometimes marveled at Aurora’s pranic births. She thought quite a lot about many things.  
One night, a presence came to her, hungry and dark. Only two creatures felt like that, Adrastia and Aura. Turning to see her radiant daughter, she thought that perhaps the mixing of spirits was more complicated than anyone had yet thought, because if anyone had planned to create the evil beauty that was the elegant Aura, combining Maleficent and Adrastia with Aurora’s lovely face and the heart of a dragon was the only way to do so. She stared at the visitor in quiet contemplation.  
“I think you would have given any of your other children a warmer welcome.”  
“Yes.”  
“Spring Dawn and Summer Sky have departed this world with their husbands for the Undying Lands. Does that mean anything to you?”  
“They told me.”  
“And you chose not to go?”  
“I choose not to choose.”  
“That’s irritating,” Aura snapped. “You’re irritating! Where’s Mallie?”  
“She lies beneath, a blanket of spring blossoms her coverlet.”  
Knitting her brows in fury she demanded, “How did that happen? The two of you couldn’t defeat some humans?”  
“It was not the humans who were her downfall,” Maleficent answered. She watched Aura’s face turn from shock to horror and then to vengeance. Days passed, and Maleficent had thought Aura’s interests had wandered off. She was shocked one morning to awaken to an eerie musical sound, like a choir of the damned floating upon the wind, and she flapped down from her nest to find a gruesome monument on young Maleficent’s grave. A trident was plunged, handle first into the earth, displaying a grotesque bouquet. The three meddlesome old pixies were impaled upon a tine each, their bodies completely unmade. Skin removed from the tender pink undersides and flesh peeled from bone to form exquisite flower petals, while the nerves had been unwound from their original places to be twisted up into stamens along with strips of flesh, like horrid blossoms. Blank, eyeless faces gazed upward with frozen grimaces of pain, except Merriweather, whose one lidless remaining eye stared bulging out of her doughy face with a horror Maleficent had never before imagined. She had been left that one eye for a reason. As the wind blew through the pitchfork’s tines, an eerie song arose, a haunting lament of loss, the backup choir shrieks of pain. The dark fairy shuddered and taking the terrible pitchfork by the handle, as far away from the gruesome end as possible, she tossed it off into the brush where she couldn’t see it, but the music remained. Like the Olverung, like her dear Little One, the pixies had sung. The three tines had vibrated with Aura’s songs, the last reverberations still echoing in her ears. What faint shadows of love Aura had ever felt was for her twin sister, and the trident hummed still with her wrath, frustration, and deeply twisted affection. The wind through the tines resounded with deep, roaring notes of vengeance and howling rage mixed with the tenderest devotion. For you always, it whispered, no other, no other… Maleficent wept, but not for the pixies, but rather for the fact that she had given birth to the evil goddess that brought darkness in the name of light, and death instead of joy or gratitude. She missed the ones whom she had buried, at every moment of every day. Even though she had known from the beginning that humans didn’t live as long as elves or fairies, and that her dear Aurora had lived the happiest of human lives, it didn’t diminish the loneliness that her passing had left. Even more grievous was the loss of her young dark fairy, who had enjoyed nothing like the long, joy-filled life of Aurora. Beside her was the tiny grave of little Rapunzel, whom they had never had a chance to know. Weeping much of the time wasn’t so bad, she thought one day, once you accustom yourself to idea that it is how things will be. 

Princess Aurora, formerly known as Briar Rose, thought sometimes, too, often about what name she held, and who she was. She gave birth to fine sons who bore their father’s and grandfather’s names and beautiful daughters, who married other ladies’ fine sons. Her husband was brave and strong, if perhaps getting rather thick through the middle, the kingdom had a king again, and she never wanted for anything. At least nothing physical, and it was always springtime. Either early spring or late blooming spring interspersed with several weeks of rainfall that the old folks said was a substitute for winter. Briar Rose had never known a winter, since she was blessed to walk only in springtime. Some people complained, and said that the natural cycles had been disrupted, and the famines and diseases in remoter areas were because the snow packs had melted away, never renewed, and so the streams and rivers had dried up. That was also why the mountain trolls and goblins were coming down out of the hills, looking for food and water. Every so often she looked over at the Forbidden Fortress, once the center of so much fear, but there was never even a flicker of light. No thunder, no lightning, nothing at all. Everyone knew that was a good thing; the wicked fairy had been vanquished, the monsters were dead, and she was safe. Occasionally she thought about the beasts she had freed from the iron cage in the dungeon, and the rogues who had run off. Roadsouls, they’d been, she thought, men desperate to escape the dungeons at any cost; even cooperating with devils in order to return to their lives of drinking and pickpocketing. Nobody had ever guessed that she had opened the dungeon door, and freed the prisoners, or even suspected that she knew anything about it. They had found her disoriented and crying in a hallway, another victim of the Beast and the magical jailbreak. But the creatures, the horned, winged woman and her injured daughter were still there in her dreams. Briar Rose had never personally experienced such tenderness as the evil demoness had shown to her child, the wicked fairy who was supposed to be dead. She had no one she could talk to about it, everyone feared the very thought of evil monsters, and if she ever spoke of the horned demonesses, they told her to immediately put such thoughts out of her mind and pray. After all, they reminded her, she had once been under the influence of a very powerful evil curse, and some lingering evil might remain, so she should give it no fertile ground to grow in. It would be terrible, they implied in hushed tones, if any of that wickedness took hold, and she became a witch or a minion of evil; witches were burnt to save their souls. Their fear was real, and as Briar Rose remembered, so was the winged demoness’ power. She had run away from the talking white rabbit and the shape changing birds, telling them to never return; and they didn’t. The story of her rescue had become a song occasionally sung in her husband’s honor, and there was a great painting in the banquet hall of his valiant battle with the dragon. The Sword of Truth and Shield of Virtue were displayed there beneath the grand portrait, reverently referred to and polished regularly. Nearby was another beautiful painting, this one of the great, angelically lovely Queen of Peace blessing Prince Philip with the Sword of Truth, and anointing him with greatness. Briar Rose didn’t remember that ever happening in real life, certainly it was an artist’s idea of what must have occurred. She had certainly never seen any such person in or even near the castle, at least no one with such heavenly white wings. The Queen of Peace was rumored to sing like an angel, and had once lived in this very palace, long ago. Even the good fairies seemed to have vanished, without a trace. Never in the songs did anyone mention the winged demoness who had appeared after the battle, or about the iron cage, created by Mad King Stephan, long ago. It was still there, she knew, so immense, heavy, and far down in the depths that earlier renovations hundreds of years ago had left it rather than tear out the foundations of the castle to remove it. Rather, they had filled it with dirt and walled off that part of the dungeon, thinking of it no more. Good had triumphed over evil, that’s what was important. But sometimes she silently wondered why they weren’t even supposed to speak of such things, and why she was told to pray for purity of thought rather than given any straight answers. 

The songs of springtime wore on, yet not forever. The sweet breezes of spring would continue as long as Princess Aurora lived, and many people wanted her to live as long as possible, to delay the time when any frost would touch the land. Maleficent awoke one morning in her nest, feeling the presence of another. Someone was pulling on the branches of the tree, and picking something. Sitting up, she demanded, “Who goes there?”  
“A guest.”  
She dropped down, even in old age a terrifying sight for the ignorant, and she quite expected the hooded figure to flee. “State your name and your business!”  
“Well,” he answered, “That’s a fine greeting for an old friend.”  
She paused, “Phillip?”  
“None other,” he smiled, pulling the hood of his cloak back.   
“What brings you here?” She was amazed by how old and gnarled he looked, until she reflected that he was well over two hundred years old, and that her own hair was probably more silver than chestnut these days.  
“Your daughters, Spring and Summer miss you, and would very much like for you to join them in the Undying Lands. I am departing in the morning. Come with me, there is nothing left here for any of us but shadows and lingering memories.”  
“Give them my love. However, I doubt I would survive the journey. I’ll be tired for the day after effort of frightening you.”  
He laughed, “Wizards have ways. Think about it before you decide.”  
She did think while they spoke and walked across the paths that seldom led anywhere, since their only use was as a landing strip for a winged old lady. She paid one last visit to the castle that night, flying around it in the darkness and unseen by all. Even those who heard the flapping of her wings were unaware of what had passed by them. So dark and dreary, she thought, it had returned to its original state, of grayish brown stone and weathered wood, the white paint and colorful detailing of Prince Phillip’s renovation gift to Aurora long gone, with only wind and rain washed bits of pastel hues remaining. As she well knew, the beautiful murals of elven landscapes and the fairy realm painted on the interior walls had been covered over as well, in dull gray, with only portraits of kings and tapestries depicting the Queen of Peace left. Most of the windows had been shut tight, and the curtains pulled. How dark and dreary this reign of Man was, she thought, and their grim god, whom she knew quite well was really Aura’s demonic power-hungry husband. Returning to her tree, she made her choice and she slept. In the morning, when they awoke, they had breakfast and she told him her decision.   
“Good,” he said, “There is nothing left for you, here, and you can take your memories with you. There are still many years left to enjoy with your older daughters and friends.” He held out his arm and said, “Come. We travel light.” Relieved that they would be traveling by teleportation, because she really didn’t feel like flying all the way to the coast, she took his arm.


End file.
